Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Tyler Reddick was the winningest driver on road courses in the inaugural season of the Next Gen vehicle in 2022. But with a new team and new manufacturer — one that struggled notoriously on road courses last year — there was no guarantee Reddick’s success would continue.

Reddick left no doubt at Circuit of The Americas this weekend that he remains the series’ current best when faced with lefts and rights.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: COTA

Reddick led a race-high 41 of 75 laps at the 3.41-mile course on Sunday afternoon. In six road races in 2022, Toyota combined to lead just 23 circuits — 17 of which came from Christopher Bell at Indianapolis and another two from Bell’s win at the Charlotte Roval in October.

“This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better,” Reddick told FOX Sports after celebrating with team members along the frontstretch. “Was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too. Just so proud of this Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. Toyota, everybody, all the resources they’ve been putting into this to help turn around the road course program means a lot.”

Reddick backed up the dominant pace he showed all weekend long. The No. 45 Toyota from 23XI Racing’s stable was quickest in Friday’s practice session, laid a new track record in the opening round of Saturday’s qualifying session before ultimately earning the second starting spot and set the fastest lap in Sunday’s race at 2 minutes, 12.706 seconds.

Last year with Richard Childress Racing, Reddick scored the first three Cup victories of his career — the first two of which came on road courses at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Tyler Reddick performs a burnout in his No. 45 car in front of crew members after winning at COTA
Logan Riely | Getty Images

The success he found Sunday at COTA should put the field on high alert for the remaining five road circuits ahead, the next coming June 11 at Sonoma Raceway. That road-racing schedule includes the inaugural race on the Chicago Street Course on July 2, along with August races at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen before the Roval appears in the October playoffs.

“Things that we were strong with today hopefully will apply in some ways to those other places,” Reddick said in his post-race press conference. “In no way do we get super comfortable or content with how we do. We’re going to: How could we be better, what things can we clean up. I definitely could have done things better at the end of this race on restarts.”

WATCH: Reddick breaks down late overtime restarts

Reddick also had the advantage of participating in a January tire test with his 23XI Racing crew at COTA, admitting it was a “good sign” to see what progress his team made in the months since. But Reddick hopes his own success can rise Toyota’s tide the next time right turns are on the menu.

“Obviously, I would love to see all the Toyotas get better,” Reddick said. “Certainly, we’re all going to work together, share notes, hopefully get the rest of them up there soon. Good step in the right direction.

“Like I said, it was a really big point of emphasis for myself coming in here to try to help Toyota to get better on the road courses. Yeah, I’d say that was a success.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas – William Byron wiped his brow after wrapping up a hard-fought Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas. On a day when the strongest performances belonged to two drivers, the strength of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was an ever-close second to the winning No. 45 Toyota of race winner Tyler Reddick.

Byron chopped it up with Reddick in a spirited duel down the stretch in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, but his hopes of notching a third NASCAR Cup Series win in this young season faded after the serious scramble of three overtime restarts. The 25-year-old driver still brought his No. 24 Chevy home in fifth place, somewhat scraped but with its strong start intact after his first top-five result on a road course.

“Yeah, it was bowling balls. I mean, physics, right,” Byron said. “You just push the guy in front of you, and you’re just all tangled up and you’re just relying on the guy in front of you to stop. So it was cleaner at the beginning of the race, like, we had some really fun restarts, me and Reddick and a couple other guys, but toward the end, it’s just physics. You’re just trying to drive in there as far as you can and hope that you stop.”

RELATED: COTA race results | At-track photos

Byron started from the pole position after topping Reddick in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session, and the two took turns setting the pace throughout the 75-lap affair. Each led six times – Reddick for 41 laps and Byron for 28 – and their attempts at fuel conservation down the stretch became moot when Brad Keselowski’s stalled car on Lap 56 touched off a series of late yellow flags.

Byron found encouragement from coach Max Papis over the No. 24 radio: “William, go out there and show it to yourself the badass that you are.” But he didn’t have quite the speed to track down Reddick, especially when the late-race restarts turned rough.

“I thought he was definitely better than us, but we were a solid second, kind of on our own,” Byron said. “So yeah, it was a good day just leading everybody else, and then here comes the 45, a couple tenths faster, so that was hard, but it’s part of it.”

Despite the slight dip from a seemingly assured runner-up finish, Bryon remains the Cup Series’ only two-time winner through six races this year. He also sits near the top of the chart in laps led – second to only teammate Kyle Larson, who has led 270 to his 268.

Byron’s rank in the series points, however, is a subpar 28th, owing to a technical violation for unapproved parts modifications that cost him and the No. 24 team 100 points in their respective standings. Hendrick Motorsports is appealing the penalties but not the crew chief suspensions. That meant a new interim role for technical director Brian Campe, who has guided the No. 24 team in place of regular crew chief Rudy Fugle.

MORE: Appeal dates announced for Hendrick, Kaulig, Hamlin

Campe was quick to credit Byron for his perseverance but also the depth of Hendrick’s bench.

“It’s been really easy, and that’s because of guys like (No. 24 engineers) Brandon McSwain and Ryan Kelly and all the people at Hendrick Motorsports that do this every day,” Campe told NASCAR.com. “You know, there’s 400-plus people there that — I call it a shield lock – have their shields locked together. We’ll go to war here, and no matter what happens, we’re gonna come up with good results, no matter who’s sitting in there. So we could have picked anybody in the shop. It was an honor to get picked, so I’ll take that, and we’ll go from there.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

AUSTIN, Texas – Tyler Reddick prevailed in three NASCAR Overtime restarts to claim his first trophy of the year – and first with his new team, 23XI Racing, with a 1.411-second victory over two-time series champion Kyle Busch in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix – the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of the season.

It was a field of international champions and NASCAR’s very best at the famed Circuit of The Americas course, but for most of the race, the outcome looked to be decided in a good ol’ Texas duel between the two fastest cars all weekend driven by Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The pair exchanged the lead, lap after exciting lap for most of the afternoon.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: COTA

And on the final two-lap restart, Reddick was able to put his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota out front exiting Turn 1 – a tight left-hander – and power forward to the lead, while Busch and third-place finisher Alex Bowman, fourth-place finisher – and defending race winner – Ross Chastain and fifth-place Byron fought door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper as they chased after him.

“I’ve been wanting to win here in a Cup car for a long time,” Reddick, the 27-year-old Californian, said who now has four NASCAR Cup Series wins, but noted this was his first as a Toyota driver and with his 23XI Racing Team – co-owned by fellow competitor Denny Hamlin and NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

“It means the world,” said Reddick, who sat down on the track and leaned against his car with a bag of ice after winning to cool down on the typically Texas-hot afternoon. “This whole 23XI team has been working hard all winter long to make the road course program better and was extremely motivated to come in here and improve performance. Just so proud of this Monster Energy team and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). All the resources they’ve put in to turn around the road course program means a lot.”

As often happens late in a road course race, patience lags and urgency increases. That was certainly the case Sunday with three different overtime restarts deciding the outcome. Reddick and Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet combined to lead 69 of the race’s 75 laps with Reddick out front a race-best 41 of those, most of them after hard-fought challenges and back-and-forth corner after corner with the race polesitter Byron.

“It feels good to get a top five, but we had a top-two race car really with the 45. He was really better than everybody, but I thought we were a close second,” said Byron, a two-race winner already in 2023, whose fifth-place finish at COTA was his career-best on a road course. “We’ll keep building on it.”

Busch’s runner-up effort was an impressive comeback. He had been mid-pack for most of the afternoon but gambled on fuel strategy to move forward during some late-race cautions in regulation.

“Even if we were on equal tires, they were lights out,” Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, said of Reddick’s No. 45 team. “Overall, for as much effort as we put into coming here and focusing on this place and all the testing we did in the offseason, we’re coming out of here with a good finish. Tyler’s obviously a really good road course racer.”

In addition to the NASCAR stars, the field that raced Sunday included four big names from other racing genres including IMSA champion Jordan Taylor, who drove the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for injured former COTA winner Chase Elliott, a pair of former Formula One champions in Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen and popular IndyCar Series regular Conor Daly.

Among these four, the Englishman Button – the 2009 Formula One champion – claimed the top finishing position, 18th in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Taylor, a two-time winner at COTA in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series finished 24th but made a huge impression in his debut after qualifying fourth.

Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 World Champion from Finland, finished 29th but ran as high as fourth late in the race. Daly only got 16 laps into the race before his team had to take his No. 50 The Money Team Racing Chevrolet behind the wall for extended repairs. He finished 36th.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson didn’t even get a full lap of green flag racing in only his second start of the 2023 season. The owner-driver of the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car accident that eliminated his Chevrolet and left him 38th in the running order. Johnson, Button and Taylor are slated to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans through NASCAR’s Garage 56 effort in June.

MORE: Details on Garage 56 entry

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland rounded out the top 10.

Chastain takes over the championship lead by 19 points over Busch. Ty Gibbs, who finished ninth, continues to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points standings.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition next Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Reddick as the winner of Sunday’s event.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find USA Network | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | Watch on USA Network | Get the NBC Sports App | Watch on Peacock | FloRacing | How to watch NASCAR International

Monday, March 27
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: The 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
9 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, March 28
Midnight, NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
9 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
8 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
11 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2

Wednesday, March 29
1 a.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
3 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS2
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 2022 Championship Show (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
Noon, Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
8 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1

Thursday, March 30
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1

Friday, March 31
1 a.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
11:30 a.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS2
Noon, NASCAR Pace Lap, MAVTV
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2
3 p.m., NASCAR Pace Lap (re-air), MAVTV
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway, FloRacing
10:30 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
6:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway

Saturday, April 1
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway, FS1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition: Richmond, FS1
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway, FS1
Noon, NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway, FS1
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Craftsman Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway, FS1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, FS1
10 p.m., ARCA Menards Series West: West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 at Irwindale Speedway, FloRacing

On MRN:
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway
4 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway

Sunday, April 2
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., ARCA Menards Series East: Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway (re-air), CNBC
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Richmond, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, FS1

On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway

Posted on by Dustin Albino

With NASCAR’s first visit to a road course in the 2023 season, the stars have come out to play. With arguably the greatest NASCAR driver to ever live (Jimmie Johnson) and two former Formula One champions in the field, Sunday’s Cup race at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is among the most diverse fields in series history. Oh, and four-time IMSA Series champion Jordan Taylor has shined in his debut weekend, replacing Chase Elliott, who is still out due to injury. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick still looks bad fast on road courses, despite switching teams and manufacturers over the offseason.

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Tyler Reddick
Starter 2: AJ Allmendinger
Starter 3: Austin Cindric
Starter 4: Kyle Busch
Starter 5: Daniel Suárez
Garage pick: Jordan Taylor

NEXT IN LINE: Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, William Byron.

RELATED: Set your lineup | Odds for Sunday’s race

RISING: For having never turned laps in the Cup Series before Friday, Taylor is having about as smooth of a weekend as one could expect. He said on Saturday that getting up to speed on Friday wasn’t seamless, but the No. 9 car was still 10th in practice. He qualified the car in fourth position, one second off Byron’s fast lap. Using Taylor has a lot of upside this weekend — it’s his only scheduled start of the season — but it’s understandable to be hesitant, given he hasn’t experienced race conditions.

Not sure how many industry folks thought Legacy Motor Club would get two of its entries into the final round of qualifying, but Erik Jones led the way in Group A. Noah Gragson was strong, too, as both drivers have their best starting positions of the 2023 season. Johnson, the team’s co-owner and third driver this weekend, will start 31st.

FALLING: The driver with the most consecutive top-10 finishes on road courses entering COTA is Chris Buescher. However, the No. 17 Ford has been down on the speed chart thus far this weekend. He ranked 31st in practice and dropped to 32nd in qualifying. He was optimistic following his qualifying run, believing that the car has more potential to showcase in the race.

Christopher Bell carried the Toyotas on road courses in 2022 with a pair of top-five finishes. He’s also the most recent victor on a road course at the Cup level. The No. 20 car has been average this weekend and will take the green flag from 14th position. Thinking ahead, I dropped Bell from my lineup, believing he will add more value to my lineup at different points of the regular season.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Michael McDowell vs. Daniel Suárez: Of the three Trackhouse Racing entries this weekend, Suárez has displayed the most speed. Unlike last year when he led the duration of the opening stage, he doesn’t believe the No. 99 car is the best in the field. Compared to McDowell’s No. 34 car, he should get the advantage, even though they were fifth and sixth, respectively, in practice.

Kyle Busch vs. Tyler Reddick: By making the jump to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet, Busch has upped his road course speed compared to 2022. In Reddick’s jump to Toyota, he helped elevate the manufacturer’s road course program. With how fast the No. 45 car has been throughout the weekend, it was a big surprise to see Byron win the pole. Sunday, though, could be Reddick’s show.

AJ Allmendinger vs. Kyle Larson: It’s hard to gauge where Larson is entering Sunday as he ranked second in practice (a half-second behind Reddick) and qualified 13th. Meanwhile, Allmendinger found speed in his No. 16 Chevrolet on Saturday and will start seventh in the race. Based solely on his road racing expertise and being in contention for the win on the final lap last year, Allmendinger gets my vote.

Austin Cindric vs. Ty Gibbs: Quietly, Cindric is having a solid weekend. The No. 2 car looks to be the most consistent Ford in the field, with top-10 times in practice and qualifying. Gibbs has been respectable, with the 11th-best time in practice. The difference is, Cindric is among the top threats to win the race, while Gibbs would be happy to get his second straight top-10 finish of the season.

Posted on by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas — The Dash 4 Cash program for the 2023 season has its first crop of qualifiers, and the four who emerged from Saturday’s rip-roaring NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of The Americas had tales to tell.

The quartet of Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer — who finished fourth through seventh in that order — will be eligible for the first $100,000 payday in the four-race initiative when the Xfinity Series reconvenes next Saturday at Richmond Raceway for the ToyotaCare 250 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The four were the top finishers among Xfinity Series regulars in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250, behind race winner AJ Allmendinger, runner-up William Byron and third-place Ty Gibbs — all Cup Series points earners.

RELATED: Race results | About Dash 4 Cash for 2023

Mayer was the lowest finisher among the four, but he rekindled some fond memories. A year ago, the JR Motorsports driver came home a career-best fifth at COTA to save his place in the Dash 4 Cash, then went two places better the next week at Richmond to pocket the six-figure bonus.

“Looking to go back-to-back on that and get some cash for the team,” he said.

On Saturday, the 19-year-old was one of several drivers to survive the major ebbs and flows of an afternoon ruckus on the 3.41-mile road course, and he did it with a new face atop the pit box. Andrew Overstreet subbed in as crew chief for the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet when Mardy Lindley was sidelined by a non-COVID illness, according to the team.

“That was the biggest roller coaster I’ve been on,” Mayer said from pit road. “I thought Fontana was bad. That was horrible. But it feels good to come back for a top 10. I mean, we got spun twice by a couple knuckleheads, but I mean, overall, it was a super good day for our Accelerate Camaro, JRM as a whole.”

Smith — at 18, the youngest of the four — continued to impress in his first full season of Xfinity Series competition. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver scored a breakthrough win two weeks ago at Phoenix, and Saturday’s run at COTA marked his second top-five result of the year.

“This is my first time being in Dash 4 Cash, so it’s cool,” Smith said. “A chance to win $100,000, and the mindset really hasn’t changed for that, but I feel good about Richmond and looking forward to next week.”

Allgaier has been a regular visitor to the Dash 4 Cash field, and his fourth top-five effort in six races this season earned him a return trip. He said that he broke second gear with just a handful of laps remaining, forcing him to go from first to third in his No. 7 JRM Chevy as he shifted down the stretch.

He enters next weekend fourth in Xfinity Series points, tops among those with Dash 4 Cash eligibility.

“It’s a good race track for us, too,” said Allgaier, a two-time Richmond winner. “So you know, when you have a good race track coming up on the schedule for our team, and you’ve got something that’s that cool of an initiative that Xfinity puts on, it makes it a lot more fun. So we can go in there next week with our heads held high, knowing we have a great race car and great team behind us, we’ve got a shot at 100 grand.”

Hemric corralled his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, saying he was thankful after clinching his first appearance in the Dash 4 Cash field since 2021. The Kaulig Racing driver tangled with John Hunter Nemechek with four laps to go but continued on to grab sixth.

Nemechek was in position to make the Dash 4 Cash field, but Hemric said the two just couldn’t get separated down the stretch. Nemechek eventually finished 27th after pitting with a flat tire.

“Him and I will talk about it and figure it out,” Hemric said. “Just tough racing.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

AUSTIN, Texas — AJ Allmendinger started on the pole position and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today on Saturday at the world-renowned Circuit of The Americas road course.

The 46 laps between the green and checkered flags, however, were dramatic and full of emotional highs and lows for the veteran Allmendinger, who led 14 laps to start the race and the final 14 laps to close it out. The series’ all-time road course winner earned his 11th road course trophy (and 16th career Xfinity Series victory) despite having to navigate through the field after falling back to 25th place during mid-race green flag pit stops.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: COTA

It was a major league road course lesson for the rest of the field as the 41-year-old Californian diced and sliced his way forward in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to win this race for the second consecutive year. He ultimately took a 0.853-second victory over relentless Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron in the No. 17 Chevrolet.

“William Byron put his best foot forward, you’ve seen all the Cup races he’s winning,” Allmendinger said of the season’s two-race winner Byron. “I knew it was going to be tough just trying to fight to get back up to the front there. Hate that I had contact with Sheldon [Creed], he got under me, I was trying to stay off him, so I hate that happened but so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was really hooked up, and with all the damage we had, it didn’t hurt the car.”

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything, so I’m going to celebrate every one of them like it’s my last one,” Allmendinger added. “You never know. As much pressure as I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it. The pit crew was awesome, and I’m so proud of everyone.”

NASCAR Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs — the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion — finished third in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, just ahead of his JGR teammate Sammy Smith and veteran JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier.

The 3.41-mile, 20-turn COTA track is regarded as one of the more challenging stops on the NASCAR schedule, and Allmendinger certainly had his work cut out for him on Saturday. He led early but was shuffled back after winning Stage 1 and gambling on a pit stop later than the other frontrunners.

Forced to line up for a restart toward the back of the field — and miscommunication from the team to driver regarding the exact position he should take — left him 25th near the race’s midpoint. He answered by reeling off one pass after another and made his way into the top 10 with 15 laps remaining — making a dramatic push forward on that final restart to go from sixth to first with 14 laps remaining. He took the lead after a spirited battle with Sheldon Creed, who spun out after contact between the two.

Allmendinger then drove off to more than a 1-second gap on the field but was doggedly chased by Byron, who will start Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA from the pole position.

“I was getting one final run at him, but obviously, they were really good all day, just great at these road courses,” Byron said. “Just a little bit to gain and then made a mistake [navigating the esses].

“It was a great effort, just need to clean it up in the cars … but had a lot of fun racing,” Byron added.

Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric, JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Josh Berry, Creed and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.

MORE: Dash 4 Cash explained

Austin Hill, a three-race winner in 2023 who was leading the championship standings by nearly 50 points coming into Austin, suffered mechanical problems in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and took a DNF. He still holds a 15-point advantage over Herbst atop the championship standings, however.

This was a Dash 4 Cash qualifying race, with the four top-finishing full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors now eligible for a $100,000 bonus next week at Richmond Raceway; the top finisher among the four will earn the big paycheck and is eligible for another the following race on April 15 at Martinsville.

With their showings on Saturday, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer are the four drivers who will race for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 in next week’s Call811 Before You Dig 250 at Richmond Raceway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas — When former Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen signed on for a NASCAR Cup Series one-off last year, his addition to the field stoked a bit of extra wattage for Watkins Glen and a level of added intrigue from other motorsports realms. He certainly wasn’t the first to bring international flair to the stateside stock-car crowd, but his appearance wound up opening some doors.

Räikkönen is back this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas as part of one of the strongest fields of extracurricular racers in the Cup Series in recent memory. He’ll be mixing it up with another F1 champ in Jenson Button, a sports-car ace in Jordan Taylor, IndyCar regular Conor Daly and a returning seven-time Cup Series champ, the moonlighting Jimmie Johnson, when Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) goes green.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | COTA 101 preview

Button, Johnson and Taylor form three-quarters of the driver lineup — along with German sports-car vet Mike Rockenfeller — for the Garage 56 effort that will tackle the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. This weekend, the trio are all in close proximity in separate stalls in the COTA paddock.

“It’s going to be fun. We’ve been talking trash like crazy on text so it’s been a lot of fun already,” Johnson said with a laugh. “If we could just have (Rockenfeller) out there somewhere, it would be nice having all four of us bouncing around.”

Taylor, the 31-year-old IMSA champion, managed the best starting spot of the group, putting the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet fourth on the starting lineup for his Cup Series debut. Taylor was actually in COTA for Garage 56 testing when he got the call from Hendrick’s Jeff Gordon, asking him to sub in for the injured Chase Elliott. He jumped at the chance and has so far made good on the opportunity.

“I mean, it’s a relief, to be honest,” said Taylor, who was also a respectable 10th in Friday’s practice. “I think coming in here, everyone knows it’s a winning car, a winning team. So if the car’s not out front, there’s one different variable, which is the driver that’s not doing the job. So I knew there’s a lot of eyes on it to perform, and I’m just glad to make everyone proud, to be honest.”

Jenson Button covers his ears in the NASCAR Cup Series garage at the Circuit of The Americas
Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Button’s Cup Series debut also comes Sunday, marking his first race in nearly three years as his post-retirement tour continues. The 2009 F1 world champ placed the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford in the 24th spot — just one row behind Räikkönen in 22nd.

Button came to NASCAR at the urging of Johnson, and Sunday’s start is scheduled to be the first of three for the 43-year-old driver this season.

“Jimmie has pushed me to race in the Cup Series. So you know, if I’m slow, I blame him,” Button cracked. “But no, he said, ‘you’re gonna have a lot of fun,’ and Jordan is, he’s getting to grips with it as well. So, you know, we’re sharing a bit of information here and there, and it’s a lot of laughing in a good way. Very positive. And driving the car makes us smile; it’s scary at moments, but it also makes us smile, and I think that’s what it’s all about, and I think that’s why we’re enjoying it so much.”

Räikkönen’s entry is the second Cup Series effort both for him and Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 initiative, which started last year as an avenue for racing standouts on the global stage to give NASCAR a try. Team co-owner Justin Marks reiterated Saturday that Trackhouse’s No. 91 Chevrolet is set to make multiple starts this year, with driver and partner announcements still to come.

Both team and driver have a recent history of success at COTA. Trackhouse’s Ross Chastain broke through for his first Cup Series victory last year, and Räikkönen’s final triumph of his F1 career came here in 2018.

“At least I know that most of the things how it goes,” said Räikkönen, who finished a crash-shortened 37th last year in his Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen. “Is it going to get any better results? We’ll find out. But I know the track, so that helps, but as I said before it’s a lot different track with a NASCAR car than an F1 car. I feel more ready for sure on that side now that I know how the race goes and how everything else goes.”

MORE: Byron wins COTA pole | At-track photos

So far, a mutual embrace seems to exist among the Cup Series regulars and this race’s part-time entrants. The welcoming attitude may evaporate once fender meets fender in Sunday’s main event.

“It’s very exciting for sure. I’m glad that they’re wanting to step in and feel out these heavy stock cars,” said Tyler Reddick, who qualified second for 23XI Racing. “Certainly forever jealous and envious of what they’ve been able to do — Jordan, Kimi, Button — the things they’ve been able to do in their life is really remarkable. I’m glad that they’re excited enough to come compete with us and race with us.”

It’s also been a long-running dream for Taylor, who has maintained his stock-car fandom and Rodney Sandstorm alter-ego while excelling for Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing sports-car team.

“I mean, these are guys that I’ve been watching my whole life,” Taylor said after his qualifying effort. “You know, we (in IMSA) only race 11 times a year, so we have all those off-weekends to watch these guys. So yeah, it’s surreal to come out of the pits and hear, ‘You’ve got (Kevin) Harvick coming up behind you, (William) Byron’s in front of you, (Kyle) Larson’s up ahead.’ So hearing those names on the radio still doesn’t kind of feel like that’s actually that guy in that car.

“But yeah, it’s still kind of surreal, and tomorrow when we’re kind of door to door, I’m sure I’ll figure out what those guys are really like on the race track.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

AUSTIN, Texas — Zane Smith became the first repeat NASCAR winner at the famed Circuit of The Americas road course, the reigning series champion holding off veteran Kyle Busch to claim his second straight victory in Saturday’s XPEL 225 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

The 23-year-old Californian’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford led the final 15 laps — a race best 16 of the 42 laps in all — and crossed the finish line 5.451 seconds ahead of the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Busch. The win makes Smith’s Front Row Motorsports team a perfect 3-for-3 in Craftsman Truck Series races at COTA. Todd Gilliland won the 2021 inaugural event here.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: COTA

Ford driver Ty Majeski, Toyota’s Tyler Ankrum and last year’s NASCAR Cup Series COTA winner, Ross Chastain, in a Chevrolet rounded out the top five.

It’s the second victory of the year for Smith, who won the season-opener at Daytona, too — the same first two victories he earned in his 2022 championship season as well.

“Shout out to Chris Lawson for an amazing strategy,” said Smith, whose Ford F-150 had a small fire under it extinguished after his burnout.

“So cool for [sponsors] Speedco, Peak and all our partners. It was fast when it mattered. I just enjoy coming to all the road courses, especially here. So cool. Just a true testament to this team.”

“Once we got to that eight-to-go point and I was told Kyle [Busch] was in second, my heart rate went up a little bit, just because he’s so good at managing his stuff when it mattered,” Smith continued. “So, I just tried not to make any mistakes.”

The polesitter Chastain and Busch exchanged the lead for much of the early race — combining to lead 22 laps between them. Smith was able to take the lead after pitting just before the final caution and getting track position. Chastain’s truck actually fell back to 28th for the final restart and Busch’s was 17th yet they both rallied to top-five finishes.

But both of the NASCAR Cup Series full-timers wasted no time navigating upward through the field. On just the single restart lap, Busch had moved up 10 spots and ran seventh. He moved into second place with six laps to go, but by that point Smith had already opened up more than a five-second advantage.

“Played the long game and unfortunately the long game didn’t work, they got lucky and beat us,” Busch said of gambling with a pit strategy that took the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet into the pits two laps — and a caution flag — after Smith made his final stop.

Corey Heim, rookie Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Kaz Grala and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top 10. NASCAR has eliminated stage breaks at most road courses for the Truck and Xfinity Series in 2023, but both Christian Eckes — who ultimately finished 30th after mechanical problems — won Stage 1 (his third stage win of the year) and Busch won Stage 2.

The win Saturday was Smith’s ninth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and puts him in the driver standings lead by two points on ThorSport Racing’s Majeski heading into the next race, the SpeedyCash.com 250 next Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Smith and the No. 38 team as the winner of Saturday’s race.