William Byron topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Circuit of The Americas at 77.847 mph in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Right behind him was Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at 77.558 mph.
Rounding out the top five were Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Series points leader Denny Hamlin was 16th fastest with a speed of 76.311 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Byron comes into this race trying to extend his top-10 streak to 12 races and was pleased with how the No. 24 team’s practice went.
“I think Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) did a really good job of allowing me to run,” Byron said. “He knew it was going to take me all of practice to figure it out. Honestly, he does a really good job of just letting me run and just knowing he can change something on the car, but it’s probably just going to be better if I just run around and experience it.
“I think I got 15 laps in, which was awesome. I think we expected to get three runs in the dry, which is about 15 laps, and we got that in the rain so that’s awesome.”
The session was the first Cup Series practice since Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt weekend earlier this year and the first laps for the premier series at the Austin, Texas-based facility. Heavy rainfall persisted throughout the practice, resulting in several drivers getting off the track.
Logano was one of the first off the track, spinning in Turn 11 early in the session. Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suarez were among others that ran into issues on the track.
The Cup Series qualifies on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET (FS1) before the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET (FS1).
The following article is brought to you by BetMGM.
There’s nothing like a change-of-pace road course race. This week, the NASCAR Cup Series visits Circuit of the Americas for the first time. In fact, all three NASCAR series will compete for the first time at the Austin, Texas track. The EchoPark Texas Grand Prix takes the green flag Sunday afternoon.
The open-wheel genre of racing has enjoyed this location, with Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton winning here five times in the past decade. The IndyCar Series has also visited the venue, with big-name drivers like Scott Dixon competing on the nearly 3.5-mile long course.
Now, we get to see which NASCAR drivers will emerge as the strongest here.
As is typical for road courses, there are unique names in the field. Englishman Kyle Tilley (+100000) — who won at the Daytona Road Course earlier this year in the IMSA Sports Car Championship series — will make his NASCAR debut.
While Elliott had a late-race spinout ruin his chances of winning at the road-course race at Daytona earlier this year, his recent overall record at this style of track is stellar. He came into this season having won four straight races on these kinds of tracks. His five wins and eight top 10s in 13 career road-course starts sums it up, showing that his recent Daytona finish was more of an anomaly than any kind of trend.
Elliott runs seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series standings and has run consistently all year — coming into this weekend with three straight top-10 finishes. What he hasn’t done is capture a checkered flag yet to lock himself into the racing postseason. One can bet that has been discussed in closed-door team meetings this week.
OTHERS: Martin Truex, Jr. (+450), Denny Hamlin (+800), and Kyle Larson (+1000) are next in line when it comes to NASCAR odds this week. Truex has four career road-course victories, while Hamlin has won once. Larson comes into this weekend red hot after two straight runner-up race finishes at Darlington and Dover.
THE DARK HORSE THREAT
AJ Allmendinger (+2800)
Road courses are the most fun tracks to try to pick a dark horse finisher. Allmendinger is the perfect choice for this spot. While he’s only raced once this year in the Cup Series (not surprisingly a top-10 finish at the Daytona Road Course), he has been an Xfinity Series regular and he’s been around stock-car racing for more than 15 years.
In 22 career Cup Series starts at road courses, Allmendinger has placed in the top 10 a total of 10 different times and picked up his lone win (Watkins Glen). In the Xfinity Series, he won at the Charlotte Road Course in 2019 and 2020 and also owns victories at Mid-Ohio and Elkhart Lake — both being road courses.
He’s an interesting candidate to keep an eye on this weekend — in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series.
OTHERS: Joey Logano (+1800) has taken runner-up honors the past two road-course races (Daytona earlier this year and Charlotte late last season). He has posted four straight top-10 finishes on these kinds of tracks, so he’s certainly not one to count out. And don’t rule out Daytona winner Christopher Bell (+2000). He proved he could do it before, why not again?
It’d be easy to throw the aforementioned Tilley in this category, but there’s another racer who is worthy of note.
It feels a little strange typing Kurt Busch’s name underneath the description long shot but the odds give him the 15th-best chances to win in the Cup Series on Sunday — so he could make for an intriguing wager. While he only has one career victory on a road course, he does have 13 top fives and 23 top 10s.
He’s in 18th place this year in the standings and desperately needs a win to make sure he gets into the postseason. So this is a massive opportunity for a guy who has shown he can wheel his way around the twists and turns of a NASCAR road course. He certainly has the talent to make a splash.
The intrigue for NASCAR’s first trip to the Circuit of The Americas road course pepped up not long after the 2021 schedule was released last September. The sprawling 3.41-mile layout was one of a handful of new venues, instantly rising toward the top of the list of NASCAR’s most technical tracks.
The intrigue is now mixed with anticipation on the eve of the tripleheader weekend, with all three NASCAR national series in action starting Saturday at the Austin, Texas facility. The festivities will conclude with the Cup Series’ inaugural in Sunday’s EchoPark Texas Grand Prix (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the culmination of what’s sure to be a learning experience for all parties involved.
“Gosh, the unknowns,” said Chris Gabehart, crew chief for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin. “There’s just so many things that you’ve got to keep track of at this track, and none of us have been there to do it, so we’re just guessing at some of them, at that.”
With the uncertainty level still high before any of the drivers turn a wheel, here are five areas of focus that teams will face in their christening of COTA.
Navigation newness
When Austin Dillon was asked about the Circuit of The Americas’ most enticing passing zones, his descriptions came with a confession: “I’m not very good at the numbers of each corner,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said. “I’d have to have a map in front of me.” His hesitancy with turn numbers was somehow understandable. There are 20 of them.
Short of converting their cars’ digital dashes to show GPS navigation, a handful of drivers said they plan to have a course map in their car’s interior for the events. It’s a reference point for the drivers not just to get their bearings, but also as a handy framework for communications with crew chiefs and spotters.
“I’ll definitely have a chart in the car,” said William Byron, currently second in Cup Series points. “The funny thing is, when we’ve been in the simulator together and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and I have been talking, I’ve referred to a lot of corners as that corner over there by the backstretch, or that one over there with the double corner. So, I don’t know. It’s going to be a lot of guessing. But I think he’ll get the gist from what I’m saying. He’s usually pretty good at picking up what I’m saying. As long as we can get through Turn 1 and talk about that one, and I think that one is pretty important, too. So, I at least know one through four. I’m used to that.”
Ty Dillon, preparing for his third Cup Series start of the year for Gaunt Brothers Racing, says his turn-number memorization is similar to Byron’s, but he’s opting to group the corners based on their characteristics — tight turns after long straightaways that require heavy braking, the esses and switchbacks, and the double- and triple-apex turns.
“Right now, I think I could probably count to Turn 4 numbers-wise,” says the younger Dillon, who adds that he’ll have a better feel for the course after practice, “but for me and my brain, the way that I work, I’m kind of breaking it down into sections and shapes of the track.”
Even then, he’s planning on having a map close by.
Setup scrutiny
With an all-new course, competition officials opted to schedule practice and qualifying for all three series this weekend. The extra track time will help teams prepare, but the benefits will be offset by the length of each lap and the time of each practice session — 50 minutes for each series.
“We get three sets of practice tires. Well, a lap at COTA is well over two minutes, and you’ve got to leave pit road to get out and you’ve got to come back to pit road to get in, so you’re talking about to make one timed lap at the start-finish line, almost seven minutes is invested,” Gabehart said. “Well, practice is 50 minutes long and I’ve got three sets of tires, so you can do the math pretty quick and realize we won’t get many runs.
“So it’s not like you’re going to be able to show up with some exotic setup that you’re looking to learn something. You’re going to show up ready to race, and give Denny the chance he needs to get acclimated to the race track for real, not the virtual version.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Joe Gibbs Racing does have some institutional knowledge about COTA, thanks to teammate Martin Truex Jr.’s participation for Toyota in a Goodyear tire test March 2, alongside Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott and Ford’s Brad Keselowski. Otherwise, teams and drivers have leaned on driving simulators for help in learning the course’s finer points.
“When you’re dealing with zero, some is better than none by a lot,” Gabehart said of the experience level. “But in terms of tracks that I think it’s somewhat similar to, Sonoma certainly comes to mind. I think though our series hasn’t been there yet, my experience at maybe Road America in terms of heavy braking zones after some long straights comes to mind, and tire fall-off.
“It’s definitely going to be a potpourri of race tracks, for sure, from what I can tell, but what goes into it for us remains the same — a mistake-free day and you’re going to have a good day. You can’t change the game just because you change the race track. It’s all about minimizing mistakes and being there at the end, and that’s what we hope to do.”
Passing points
With 20 turns to navigate, opportunities for passing should theoretically be bountiful. But the most prime spots for overtakes are the tight corners at the end of COTA’s long straightaways — areas where hard braking will be needed to slow the momentum of heavy stock cars.
“I think on the personal side of things I’ve got to eat my Wheaties,” said defending Xfinity Series champ Austin Cindric, who is also in the Cup Series field for Sunday. “My braking foot is gonna be worn out after this weekend, I can promise you that.”
Cindric has some experience at the Austin, Texas track, last competing there in a GT3 sports-car class in 2016. His prediction for the stock-car edition of COTA racing: A mad scramble at each unfurling of the green flag.“I think the restarts are gonna be wild,” Cindric says. “You have a very wide, inviting front straightaway. You even see it in the F1 races there. I mean, guys will drive it off in there and collect three or four cars, so I think restarts are definitely going to be pretty crazy in all three series — a lot of opportunities to pass at this race track, a lot of tire fall-off, which obviously provides a bit of a dynamic to the race, whether if it’s on strategy or on the race track, so, otherwise, you kind of have every type of corner at this race track. There’s a lot to look forward to, I think for the NASCAR fans and a lot of unknowns for us as drivers.”
New faces and some familiar returns
If the track seems new, so should the COTA entry lists, which are well-stocked with double-duty drivers, sports-car specialists and some long-anticipated reunions — all of which could create some confusion for teams trying to recall who’s who out on the track.
Five Cup Series regulars — Kyle Busch, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick — are scheduled to dip into the Xfinity Series field to gain experience on the eve of their event. They’ll blend in with a selection of drivers with a rich road-racing pedigree — former Rolex 24 class winner Spencer Pumpelly, two-time SCCA Spec Miata champ Preston Pardus and sports-car vet Miguel Paludo.
Two drivers with extensive NASCAR experience are making their returns to competition for the COTA festivities — 58-year-old Boris Said and longtime Cup Series driver Paul Menard. Said is in line for his first NASCAR start since 2017 in a one-race deal with MBM Motorsports, and the 40-year-old Menard will be back in the garage with a Camping World Truck Series ride with ThorSport Racing.
Pit-road peril
The ability of teams to adapt to COTA’s turns and twists will extend to pit road, where the entry creates an unconventional challenge. After committing to pit road, drivers will make a sharp bend to the left on the inside of Turn 20 before the pit lane straightens out.
The potential for trouble there is high, according to Eric Phillips, crew chief for the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota and Camping World Trucks points leader John Hunter Nemechek.
“I think the biggest nuance to it is going to be getting on pit lane,” Phillips said. “It’s really tight there on the inside of Turn 20 to get onto pit road. There’s no way you can run pit-road speed getting onto pit road, which is kind of opposite. You have to be slowed down before you get to that turn and you’ll be accelerating out of the turn to the pit-road speed line. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone wreck there before the day’s over, especially on a green-flag stop because it comes up in a hurry and it is really tight.”
The NASCAR Cup Series’ first trip to Circuit of The Americas has been a much-anticipated item on the 2021 schedule. The Sunday race (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) marks the first road-course event since February’s race at the Daytona Road Course. In somewhat of a surprise, Christopher Bell won that race — the unexpected aspect being that Bell hadn’t had much success on road courses at the Cup level and he had 50-1 odds on BetMGM entering the race.
Are there any drivers who fit the bill to pull a similar shocker at the 20-turn road course in Austin, Texas? NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and RJ Kraft debate who they have their eye on as a potential surprise winner.
KRAFT: When I look at the landscape and eliminate drivers with road-course wins (sorry AJ Allmendinger in Kaulig Racing’s fifth-ever Cup start), I am drawn to one driver who has been quietly running well but doesn’t stick out as a strong road-course driver based on his initial stats. The driver I am referring to is Tyler Reddick.
The driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet enters Sunday’s race with five top 10s in his last seven races — a stretch that has seen him jump 13 spots in the standings (from 28th to 15th). Over that seven-race stretch, Reddick has the ninth-most points in the Cup Series — more than 2021 winners Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Bell.
As I mentioned, Reddick’s road record doesn’t jump out at you. In eight road starts at the Xfinity level, Reddick notched four top fives and five top 10s. At the Cup level, he has made three road-course starts with an average finish of 22.7. His best run came at the Charlotte Roval last fall where he finished 12th; on both road courses last year he finished better than Bell. Reddick enters Sunday’s race with odds of 100-1 on BetMGM. He’s not a carbon copy of Bell’s path to a surprise win earlier this year, but he is awfully close to it. Plus, Reddick is coming in with a lot of momentum, so I’ll take the second-year Cup driver as the most likely to pull a surprise on Sunday.
DECOLA: I agree Reddick is one to watch — along with his RCR teammate Austin Dillon, who seems hell-bent on becoming a high-quality road racer in his career — but I’m going with a driver who, should he win, he’d just barely be playoff-eligible. That’s right, I’m going with Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford driver Chase Briscoe, currently 27th in points.
The 26-year-old’s rookie season has not gone according to plan, having yet to find the top 10 following a nine-win 2020 Xfinity campaign. Given SHR’s struggles across the board — Briscoe, Aric Almirola and Cole Custer have three top 10s combined, and Kevin Harvick has yet to win after scoring nine victories last year — Briscoe’s struggles are more likely due to the team as a whole than him failing to adjust to the higher level of competition in the Cup Series.
A road course can change all that.
It’s easy to forget, but Briscoe was outright dominant last year, and he was targeted as a potential playoff driver with the bevy of road courses on this year’s schedule. Sunday’s race should be viewed as a potential equalizer among the teams, and the likelihood of another surprise winner is perhaps at its highest since the days of Daytona earlier this year. No drivers have competed at COTA in NASCAR equipment because, well, it’s never happened before.
Let’s flash back to 2018, when Briscoe — not even a full-time driver at the time — won the inaugural Xfinity event on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval. And how about when the series christened Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course last year? Yep, another win for Briscoe.
To me, that speaks to Briscoe’s raw talent behind the wheel, particularly when it comes to road courses, and I think this weekend could be a potential turning point for him and the organization. It seems unlikely SHR will have a completely down year, and Briscoe won’t shine at some point. Why not this weekend?
He’s put together some decent runs lately (11th at Talladega and Darlington), and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t put together his best race thus far at the Cup level on Sunday.
Ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural stop at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, race handicappers have no track history to analyze, instead reliant on drivers’ past performances on road courses in addition to data from 750-horsepower tracks.
It’s no surprise, therefore, to see Chase Elliott at the top of the oddsboard. Elliott has owned road courses on the Cup circuit of late, tallying five wins and an average driver rating of 125.7 over the last nine points races on these layouts, including four straight victories from 2019-20. He followed that run with a second-place finish at the non-points Busch Clash on the Daytona Road Course this past February, and he led 44 of 70 laps in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 before a late-race spin took him out of contention.
While SuperBook USA in Las Vegas has Elliott priced at a skinny +180 (bet $100 to win $180) to win Sunday’s EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, the No. 9 Chevrolet can be found at larger than 2-1 odds at a variety of betting shops, including +250 at Barstool Sportsbook and +225 at BetMGM as of Friday morning.
These are low numbers for a NASCAR outright market, but they are in line with how Elliott was priced at the two road races at Daytona earlier this year. Per SuperBook openers, he was +225 in the Busch Clash and +250 in the points race.
So heavily favored is Elliott that the SuperBook offers him in just one matchup prop, laying a large -170 (bet $170 to win $100) against Martin Truex Jr., who is easily the second betting choice for Sunday’s race. Odds this high on a matchup are rare, and this big a gap between the top two favorites illustrates the betting market’s massive expectations for the No. 9 this weekend.
Trying to beat the favorite
Bettors looking to take their shots against Elliott will give Truex a hard look. Over the aforementioned span of nine road-course races, Truex has put together quite the resume himself: two wins, five top fives, seven top 10s, a 5.44 average finish (better than Elliott’s 8.11) and a 120.6 average rating. Throw in his three wins on 750-hp tracks this season (Phoenix, Martinsville, Darlington), and the +450 available at BetMGM and Barstool is enticing.
Denny Hamlin, the third betting choice at +1000 at Barstool and +800 at BetMGM, is in the mix pretty much every week, long on the cusp of his first win of the season. His road-course record, while not as sparkling as those of Elliott or Truex, is among the best on the circuit, with five top 10s, including four in the top five, a 9.11 average finish and a 95.2 rating over the last nine.
The pricing of the Truex vs. Hamlin matchup, however, illustrates a significant gap between these Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, at least in the eyes of the market, with the No. 19 laying -150 odds to finish ahead of the No. 11 (+130).
Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick has the look of a live long shot, offered at a fat +1800 on multiple oddsboards. Sure, Stewart-Haas continues to be off the pace of the top garages, but the No. 4 Ford has found some consistency with four straight top-six finishes. His 7.89 average finish and 100.3 rating on road courses since 2018 both rank third in the series, and if he’s running close to the front as Sunday’s Grand Prix nears its finish, bettors holding an 18-1 ticket on Harvick will be feeling good about those wagers.
This weekend’s Cup race in Austin is one of eight this season to be preceded by practice and qualifying, meaning we’re likely to see larger shifts from opening to closing betting odds than for most of the 2021 schedule. Once oddsmakers have the chance to watch how teams perform on the Circuit of The Americas, they’ll use that information to tweak their pricing.
There are two ways for bettors to approach the practice + qualifying scenario: 1) If you see odds you like now, bet before bookmakers move the numbers; 2) Wait to place your bets, pay attention to practice and qualifying, and apply the knowledge you gain to make more informed plays Sunday.
Jim Sannes, a quantitative NASCAR betting and DFS analyst, projects Joey Logano and William Byron, respectively, fourth and fifth, in average running position, before factoring in practice data. The early odds on these drivers may be as good as they’re going to get for bettors.
Logano is +1600, and Byron is +1800 now. I'd expect them to closer lower after practice. Both have strong recent histories on road courses.
In other words, if you’re on board with Logano or Byron, or you like another driver whose odds may shorten after practice and qualifying, fire away. If you think you can gain valuable insight from watching how teams perform on the track, exercise patience and wait until race day to wager.
Circuit of the Americas — COTA, for short — is the site of NASCAR’s newest road course, in Austin, Texas. In the spirit of Austin’s weirdness, we’ll help you generate your very own alternative COTA acronym.
The NASCAR Cup Series races around the corners at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the first time in the series’ history Sunday in the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Before you enjoy a piece of history, take some time to scroll through the details and information you should know.
LAYOUT, PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Located just outside of Austin, Texas, the Circuit of The Americas has hosted races in nearly every major series in the world. NASCAR Cup Series drivers will take on the 3.41-mile “long course” layout, featuring 20 turns.
The practice session is scheduled for Saturday at 10:05 a.m. ET (FS2), with qualifying on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET (FS1, PRN) before the race.
Which drivers are slated to compete this weekend? Check out the intriguing COTA entry list.
Seeing Chase Elliott (9-4 odds to win) atop the BetMGM betting odds list for COTA is no surprise — and neither is seeing his usual road-course rivals, Martin Truex Jr. (9-2) and Denny Hamlin (8-1), just slightly behind.
But with a new track and weather potentially coming into play, there is a chance for the underdogs to steal the show.
Fresh off a win at Dover International Speedway, Alex Bowman (20-1) again presents strong value after finishing three of the last four road-course races inside the top 10. Further down the charts, AJ Allmendinger (28-1) and Kurt Busch (30-1) also make a solid case for bettors.
Aside from Truex and Elliott, Ryan Blaney (16-1) and Christopher Bell (20-1) are the only other Cup Series drivers with a road-course win in the last 10 road races.
The usual road-course package returns this weekend, featuring a significantly shorter rear spoiler and front splitter. Cars are fitted with a tapered-spacer engine, targeting around 750 horsepower and emphasizing lower downforce due to aerodynamic changes.
GOODYEAR TIRES, RAINY FORECAST
Though both practice and qualifying sessions should aid teams in dialing in their cars for the weekend, many will look to combine familiar aspects of previous road courses to plan ahead. The Circuit of The Americas combines high-speed straights often seen at Watkins Glen International with the technical turns of Sonoma Raceway and will test race strategy throughout the entire afternoon.
Cup Series teams will have three sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for practice, one set for qualifying and six sets for the race (five new sets plus one transferred from practice or qualifying).
With this weekend’s forecast showing rain on the radar, the wet weather radials are expected to be in play at some point during the afternoon. Differing from the standard radials, wet weather tires will be treaded and have white lettering in the place of yellow.
Another week means another chance to beat the competition and show off your NASCAR instincts. Take control of your very own team each week with NASCAR Fantasy Live — it’s free to play. Learn everything you need to know at fantasygames.nascar.com.
The 2021 fantasy points leaders are Hamlin (574), William Byron (473) and Truex (472).
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available – as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
New for this season, NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more – and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
For years, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been putting on compelling, exciting and dramatic road-course races, and the trucks’ debut Saturday afternoon at the Circuit of The Americas promises to be a worthy chapter in the road-course annals.
The Toyota Thunder 250 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be the second of four scheduled road-course races for the Camping World Truck Series this season, and the 3.41-mile, 20-turn course just outside Austin, Texas, will undoubtedly be a must-see venue. A new challenge awaits everyone on the grid.
Perhaps not too surprisingly, the very drivers currently leading the championship have a road-racing resume that makes them the favorite again this weekend at COTA.
The seasons’ two-race winner, John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, holds a 46-point edge over fellow two-race winner Ben Rhodes in the points standings. Reigning series champion Sheldon Creed is ranked third, having picked up his first 2021 victory in the last race at Darlington Raceway.
Those three drivers bring plenty of road-course merit to COTA as well.
Nemechek, 23, won at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2016 and finished runner-up there in 2018. He was third in the only road-course race of 2021 to date – at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Rhodes, 24, driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Toyota, won at the Daytona Road Course this February and has a third-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (2019) to his credit. Four times this year, he has finished first or second – winning both on the Daytona superspeedway and then the road course and finishing runner-up at Bristol Motor Speedway and Darlington. He is particularly enthusiastic about this week’s stop.
“Ever since Daytona, I’ve been so eager to get back on a road course and I can’t think of a better place than COTA,” Rhodes said. “Knowing that everyone is learning it together will be fun and quite the challenge.”
Creed, 23, is not only coming off the Darlington win two weeks ago but also looks like a favorite this weekend. He finished runner-up to Rhodes in the Daytona Road Course race — leading a race-best 17 laps in the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet. He won there in 2020 and also has a top-five at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (2019).
There are other story lines to watch as well. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Paul Menard will be making his first Camping World Truck Series start since 2007, driving the No. 66 ThorSport Toyota. The former NASCAR Cup Series driver – and winner of the 2011 Brickyard 400 – last raced full time at the Cup level in 2019. This will mark his first NASCAR race since.
Driver/television analyst Parker Kligerman will make his fifth start of the year at Austin, driving the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet. And perennial championship contender Grant Enfinger will be back behind the wheel of the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet. He has only competed in seven of the eight races in 2021 but sits eighth in the championship standings.
Several of the drivers – including rookie Hailie Deegan — took a road-course refresher course with the Skip Barber Racing School to prepare for the weekend. Nemechek did laps with his boss, Kyle Busch.
“I’m really looking forward to going to COTA this weekend,” said Christian Eckes, who will drive the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Toyota. “It’s a race track that I’ve watched F1 at for years and it’ll be fun to race. I’m not extremely experienced with road courses but I have had fun at them in the past. Hopefully we can put on a good show and get another good run for our No. 98 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records team.”
By all accounts, the NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors are eager to give the Circuit of The Americas a true “go” this weekend with championship contenders prepared to have to hold off NASCAR Cup Series regulars as well as a handful of sports-car aces as the series debuts Saturday at the renowned road course.
The Pit Boss 250 (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn, elevation-changing course has brought out big names and plenty of star power intent to be a part of this historic first race.
Five NASCAR Cup Series drivers – Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Austin Dillon – are entered Saturday. And then there’s another road-course ringer group that includes Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and one of the sport’s most popular drivers, Boris Said, who will be making his first NASCAR start since 2017 and his first Xfinity Series start since 2015.
However, they will be challenging an Xfinity Series championship contingent that has long established itself as a legitimate force to be reckoned with on road courses.
Reigning champion and current points leader Austin Cindric is not only coming off a series-best third victory last week at the Dover International Speedway, he’s an absolute favorite this weekend at COTA.
The 22-year-old began his career making a name with victories on road courses. In fact, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has won at Watkins Glen International, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, where this year he answered his 2020 victory with an overtime runner-up finish.
Chief among Cindric’s competitors – especially on road courses – is the versatile AJ Allmendinger – a race winner in NASCAR, IMSA and IndyCar. The 39-year-old veteran is running a full Xfinity Series season this year and brings with him previous Xfinity Series wins at Road America, Mid-Ohio and the Charlotte ROVAL (twice) as well as scoring his only NASCAR Cup Series win on the famed Watkins Glen road course. The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet is currently fourth in the Xfinity championship standings with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway early in the season.
And then there are those NASCAR Cup Series drivers hoping to get some laps in and be better acquainted with the new track by their race Sunday.
Busch has four previous NASCAR Cup Series wins on road courses – a pair at Watkins Glen and a pair at Sonoma Raceway– and two Xfinity Series victories (2008 at Mexico City and 2017 at Watkins Glen). Harvick has won at Watkins Glen (2006) and Sonoma (2017) in the Cup Series and at Montreal (2007) and Watkins Glen (2007) in the Xfinity Series. Dillon, Custer and Reddick have never won a NASCAR race on a road course.
All year, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series driver, Daniel Hemric, has been one to watch. He has been ranked second in the championship points since March. Hemric doesn’t have a victory yet in the Xfinity Series, but he has been close with a runner-up finish at Las Vegas and three third-place finishes in 2021. He’s coming off back-to-back top-10 runs at Darlington Raceway and Dover heading into Austin. His best work on a road course is runner-up to Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish in the 2017 Mid-Ohio Xfinity Series race. The driver of the No. 18 JGR Toyota has five career top-three finishes on road courses.
“COTA is unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen or raced on,” Hemric said. “We’ve all been using the simulator and our tools that Toyota provides us with to prepare, but it’s going to be a huge challenge. There are a lot of hard braking zones and long straights; just stuff we aren’t used to with our cars and heavy they are. Managing tires and brakes will be critical because the sharp corners lead onto long straights so that will be a huge opportunity to either gain or lose time with how long it takes to get around the track. I’m pumped up for it.”
Competing on a new, technical road course for the first time has challenges of its own. Throw in the roughly 50-50 potential for wet-weather driving during some of NASCAR’s inaugural weekend at the Circuit of The Americas, and the degree of difficulty gets another turn of the ratchet.
NASCAR’s three national series each get the benefit of extra track time with brief practice and qualifying sessions during the tripleheader weekend, which kicks off Friday at the 3.41-mile Austin, Texas, venue. Unlike oval-track events, NASCAR’s road-course contests feature the opportunity to race in the rain. Any inclement conditions could alter the focus of those sessions and each of the first-time events.
“Some of it’s going to depend on the elements,” said Dave Rogers, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota in the Xfinity Series. “If it’s raining and it looks like it’s going to rain during the race, then that’s just as unique as a dirt race at Bristol.”
Further complicating matters is the potential for rain on one on-track day and not the next, a scenario that could minimize the benefit of wet-weather practice, scuttle any early reads on race strategy and increase the possibility for mistakes.
“You try to limit risk, for sure, so you’ve got to assess the entire situation and say what am I getting out of every lap on the track, how is it going to contribute to the weekend’s performance,” said Chris Gabehart, crew chief of JGR’s No. 11 for Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin. “And certainly, every time you’re on the track in the rain, there is a higher level of risk, so it does depend on that Sunday forecast as to how motivated we’d be to get out there, and that’s really a situational thing, for sure.”
With an eye on how Mother Nature might impact the COTA debut, here’s a handy refresher on wet-weather procedures, the rain-tire situation and NASCAR’s history of dealing with the elements on road courses.
Race rules and procedures
In the event of inclement weather, each series’ race director can declare a “wet” start or “damp” start, according to the NASCAR Rule Book. A wet start means that the entire racing surface is covered in moisture; a damp start means that the track has areas of moisture, but that other areas are dry. The race director can also declare the conditions not race-ready, if heavy downpours cause puddles and impaired visibility.
For a wet weather start:
All vehicles must mount rain tires, activate their rear flashing light and have a working windshield wiper installed.
Normal starting procedures follow.
For a damp weather start:
All vehicles may elect to install rain tires at the crew chief’s discretion. The rear flashing light must be activated, and windshield wipers may be installed.
Any team making a pit stop for rain tires on subsequent pace laps will forfeit its starting spot.
After the green flag, teams are permitted to change tires — to treaded rain tires or dry-weather slicks — at the crew chief’s discretion.
Goodyear rain tires
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
If conditions warrant, Goodyear’s wet-weather radials will be available to teams in all three series. NASCAR Cup Series teams will have up to three sets of rain tires for practice and qualifying and up to five sets for the race; Xfinity Series teams will have five sets of wet-weather tires available for the weekend, capped at a maximum of four sets for the race; Camping World Trucks teams will have four sets of rain tires available for the event, a maximum of three sets for the race.
The treaded wet-weather tires will be further distinguished by white “Goodyear Eagle” lettering instead of the customary yellow on the sidewalls.
Weather outlook
The Circuit of The Americas forecast calls for a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday afternoon, a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday and a 40% chance of the same on Sunday. The thunderstorm advisory carries the potential for a 30-minute hold on at-track activity should a lightning strike occur within an 8-mile radius of the venue.
For further updates, please check NASCAR.com/weather for at-track conditions and hourly forecasts.
Rain-racing history
The NASCAR Xfinity Series has the most experience with wet-weather racing, running eight times in damp conditions since 2008. Three of those instances happened last season, Aug. 8 at Road America, Aug. 15 at Daytona International Speedway’s road course and Oct. 10 in a rain-soaked running of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval event.
The Cup Series got its first taste of rain-tire racing in NASCAR’s modern era during the Roval weekend last fall, and teams briefly navigated a rain shower on the Daytona Road Course in February. When the Cup Series ran its only event at Road America in 1956, some of the race was contested in wet conditions, but the cars were not equipped with special rain tires.
Camping World Truck Series teams began their event at Daytona’s road course last February under wet conditions.
