CONCORD, N.C. – A crash by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie Darrell Wallace Jr. was the biggest moment of Tuesday’s ROVAL Test Fest at the 2.28-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Roughly two hours into the open test day, which featured 16 Cup Series stars tackling the biggest shakedown to-date for the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Wallace lost control of his No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and skidded into the tire barriers at the entrance to the infield section of the course.

Wallace’s machine sustained significant damage to the right side and the crash ended the day for Richard Petty Motorsports, which elected not to bring a backup car to the test for the first-year Cup Series driver.

He was checked and released from the infield care center, but declined to speak with reporters before departing the race track.

In addition to Wallace, drivers who tested during the nine-hour day – extended from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. due to delays for a track change on the backstretch during the caution for Wallace’s crash – included Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Kasey Kahne and Michael McDowell.

The goal for the day was straightforward: find speed around the challenging 17-turn layout.

Newman quickly noted that the exit of what would normally be the fourth turn of the 1.5-mile oval is a place where he found that lap times could be either improved or hindered in a hurry.

“There’s more time to be gained or lost coming off of Oval turn four onto the race track … right before the start-finish line,” said Newman. “To me, that’s the most challenging part of the whole race track. You have to have a good balance and you’ve got to be competitive around the whole course. The key will be doing whatever works for your car and gives you the best lap time.

“(The challenges) are just getting used to (the track), working your braking zones, shifting points, getting the right transmission ratios and keeping the car on the race track,” Newman continued. “There are a lot of off-camber corners that we aren’t used to and blind corners … like coming over the top of turn two. Things like that are just new to us, especially for me since this is the first time I’ve been here. I was simply trying to not be the slowest guy on the speed charts.”

Cup Series rookie Daniel Suarez, who piloted the No. 19 Toyota during Tuesday’s test day, ended up pleased with his team’s effort and progress over the course of each run.

“Everything was good for us; we’ve just been trying to get used to everything,” said Suarez. “This is a brand-new race track for me. The first time I saw this place was last week on the simulator. I’m just getting familiar with all of it: the curbs, the lines, the car and what adjustments we need to find a comfortable point for me behind the wheel.

“The slow sections (are toughest). Sometimes through there, I would try to rush a little bit and lose time, but when you go through there well it actually feels like you’re going slow. Getting into the last chicane, before the start-finish line, is tricky. There are some bumps there and it’s hard to slow down. But those tricky spots are there for everyone. I’m looking forward to the challenge when we come back here.”

No official times were released from Tuesday’s test session.

Aside from Wallace’s shunt, the only notable occurrence from the morning portion was a caution flag for the stalled machine of Chase Elliott after he lost power steering.

The afternoon session featured a rather spectacular dust cloud after an off-course excursion by Kurt Busch, but Busch sustained no major damage to his No. 41 Ford and was able to continue on.