AUSTIN, Texas — After practicing under the sun and qualifying amid a downpour, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ultimately raced on a dry and wet Circuit of The Americas track.
Rain soaked all 3.41 miles of the Austin, Texas-based road course Saturday morning. By the time the Toyota Tundra 225 went green in the early afternoon, the weather settled down to a slight drizzle that soon enough died out. There was little to no moisture remaining when the checkered flag waved.
“I really believe if it would have just kept on raining, I would have won the race,” Tyler Ankrum said. “… I sound arrogant, I know that. But I was just so much faster, it’s true.
“It sucks because usually you never say, ‘Hey, keep on raining.’ You say, ‘Please stop raining.’ ”
To his credit, Ankrum did start on the pole after clocking the fastest qualifying lap (75.041 mph) in the rain. The average race speed was 70.79 mph.
Todd Gilliland won, though, while Kaz Grala came in second. Ankrum actually finished third, with Grant Enfinger and Sheldon Creed fourth and fifth, respectively.
It was a 41-lap event around the 20-turn layout, which — on top of the less-than-ideal conditions — was brand new to NASCAR.
“I thought we were going to have a caution in the first two laps,” Creed said. “I was like, ‘Someone is going to overdrive (Turns) 1 or 12.’ But everyone must have done a good job.”
Shockingly so, COTA featured the cleanest race of 2021 — and it really can’t get any cleaner. There were only two cautions, and those were solely because of the required stage breaks.
There has been one other event that can be considered just as clean, and it was the fourth race back in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway. There were three cautions, and that additional yellow was a competition caution. It had nothing to do with the on-track action.
“I don’t even guess anymore,” said Grant Enfinger. “The first race out after the (pandemic) last year at Charlotte, I thought it was going to be a wreck fest with no practice, and it wasn’t, it was clean.”
When the Camping World Truck Series did return from NASCAR’s three-month pause due to the COVID-19 outbreak, its first race was at Charlotte Motor Speedway. There were seven cautions for 37 laps. That’s not abnormal for the 1.5-mile oval. There have been seven cautions in the last three Camping World Truck Series races there.
New tracks, however, tend to be where the variance shows.
For instance, the Camping World Truck Series’ first race on Daytona International Speedway’s road course in 2020 saw five cautions for seven laps. This past February, there were double the cautions at the 3.61-mile circuit for more than double the laps (20).
Ankrum has another theory.
“Every track that we’ve gone to this year that we didn’t have practice at last year, we’re all way more comfortable driving way over our heads,” he said. “Now, we come to a place we’ve never been to before and practice. Well, everyone is still unsure since we’ve never raced on it, so we all behave ourselves.
“Just wait for next year. It’ll be a (expletive) show again.”
EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (⏰ 2:30 p.m. ET | 📺 FS1 | 📻 PRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s race, the 14th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2021 season.
Where: Circuit of The Americas, a 3.41-mile, 20-turn course located in Austin, Texas Qualifying: 11 a.m. ET on FS1 Green flag: 2:43 p.m. ET TV/Radio: FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 76. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%, according to NOAA.gov Grand Marshal: Matthew McConaughey Race Distance: 68 laps, 231 miles Stages: 15 | 32 | 68 Pit-road speed: 40 mph Caution car speed: 50 mph COTA 101: Get the full lowdown
Entry list: See who’s in the field Pit-stall assignments: See who is pitting where| Expert breaks down pit selections
Five to watch
Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at Circuit of The Americas.
1. With an 80 percent chance of rain for Sunday’s Cup Series race, it sounds likely that drivers and teams will make use of Goodyear rain tires. Fortunately, drivers’ first laps on the Circuit of The Americas course were under wet-weather conditions during the series’ lone practice session Saturday morning. The Cup Series raced on rain tires for a good portion of last year’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. The Cup Series will also qualify on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on FS1.
2. Speaking of the Charlotte Roval, defending Cup Series champion Chase Elliott was the winner of that race last year and it’s no surprise that he’s the odds-on favorite to win Sunday’s race. Elliott has won five of the last eight road-course races and has led the most laps in four of the past five. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver also leads all drivers with six stage wins on road courses. Elliott posted the fifth-fastest time in Saturday’s practice session. He’s still winless so far this year, but COTA very well could be where he turns it all around.
3. Right behind Elliott on the favorites list is Martin Truex Jr., who owns four career road-course victories, second behind Elliott among active drivers. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has earned three wins in the past 10 road-course events. He earned eight top-10 finishes in that stretch, with a worst finish of 14th. Truex has emerged as an early championship favorite with three victories so far this year at Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway.
4. Another driver who is staking his claim as a threat for more race victories is Alex Bowman. The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports driver won last weekend at Dover International Speedway, his second win of the 2021 season. Bowman and Truex are the only two drivers with multiple victories in the first 13 races. Bowman’s road-course performance is underrated, finishing in the top 10 in three of the last four road-course races. His worst road-course result since joining Hendrick is 14th. Don’t be shocked if Bowman is around at the end to gain his third win of the year.
5. A number of Cup Series drivers used Saturday’s Xfinity Series race to gain extra experience on Circuit of The Americas ahead of Sunday’s event. Full-time drivers Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick all found rides. Xfinity Series regulars AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley will also start in the Texas Grand Prix. Prior to the Xfinity race, Harvick said it was a steep, steep learning curve in the rain on a new track in Cup Series practice on Saturday. More track time can never hurt and we’ll see how they benefit from it.
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
•Power Rankings: Daniel Suarez turning heads | Scope the ranks •Paint Scheme Preview: Check out the designs taking on COTA | See the schemes •Fantasy Fastlane: See which drivers to use, avoid | Full Fantasy advice |Set your roster •Preview Show: Jonathan Merryman and Alex Weaver preview the race | Watch the show
Get in on the action
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Betting odds for COTA race | See the odds
• COTA betting: Chase Elliott is priced as big favorite | Find out why • How legal betting is helping NASCAR grow the sport | Read more • Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
• Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
Learn the new track
It’s NASCAR’s inaugural weekend at Circuit of The Americas. Get familiar with the track.
•20 times the turns: Turn-by-turn breakdown of COTA | Learn every corner •Mystery box: Unraveling NASCAR’s newest road course | Full analysis
• A majestic place: Explore Circuit of The Americas | Get a tour in photos
• Good tips: F1 superstar Daniel Ricciardo offers Chase Elliott advice for COTA | Watch video
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Chase Elliott has won four of the last five road-course races and has finished sixth or better in seven of the last nine. • Fresh off his victory at Dover, Alex Bowman has finished in the top 10 in three of his last four road-course starts. • Ryan Blaney’s 2018 win at the Charlotte Roval is the only road course win for Ford in the last 10 races • The race winner started in the top 10 in eight of the last 10 road-course races. • Elliott (5) and Martin Truex Jr. (3) won eight of the last 10 road-course races.
Catch the pack
Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Byron tops the board: William Byron fastest in rain-soaked practice at COTA | See practice results
• Silly Season: Brad Keselowski reportedly has offer to move to Roush Fenway Racing with driver-ownership role | Read more
• Potential opportunity: Matt DiBenedetto could take advantage of Roush-Keselowski rumors | Read more
• Hanging up the helmet: Jeff Green officially retires from NASCAR | Read more
• A virtual victory: James Davison dominates en route to Pro Invitational Series win at COTA | Read more • Betting on Bubba: DraftKings partners with Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing | Read more
• Cashing in: North Wilkesboro Speedway, Rockingham Speedway may get funding from North Carolina government | Read more
Say what?
• Drivers have plenty to say ahead of Sunday’s race at COTA | Read our quotebook
• Austin Dillon chats with NASCAR.com’s Terrin Waack in garage at COTA | Watch video
“It’s always fun going to a new race track, so I’m looking forward to something new. It’s a doubleheader weekend for us, so it’s going to be busy. I’m excited to be back in the Cup car after a really fun race at the Daytona Road Course earlier this year. Overall, I think it’s a technical race track – weather is going to be a factor, so there will be a lot of challenges that we will have to face. I’m confident that Kaulig Racing will have a solid weekend.” — AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
“I don’t even know how much practice we do or don’t have. It’s the same for everybody. We just got to go there and try to hit it off the bat. Chase (Elliott, teammate) has been there. That’s a big help. It will be crucial to learn from him. It’s crucial to learn from him any time we go to a road course, he’s so good at them. Just trying to improve. I feel like our weak point is going to be me as a race car driver. I feel if I do my job, do a good job for the team, we’ll have a good, solid day.” — Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
“I laugh a little bit when I think about going to COTA. That track was designed for Formula 1 cars, cars that can cut around tight apexes like Turn 1, Turn 11 and 12. Our big heavy stock cars are going to struggle with that; but it’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward it. With the asphalt being abrasive at COTA, it’s going to wear out the tires, so your strategy is going to have to evolve on the fly. It’s going to be quick movements that you make and commit to, so with all that being said, I’m ready to attack course, find the right rhythm with the lap time but also find the right tire strategy bring us to Victory Lane. It’s a cool place with 20 corners; lots of action coming.” — Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
“It’s a very technical track and a little bit awkward. Not a ton of flow because there are long straightaways and how tight the corners are and every single corner is different. It’s a very hard track – I can see some people doing really well in parts of it and struggling in others. There will be a lot of passing zones, I think, and it’s going to be racy as hell.” — Cole Custer, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Todd Gilliland was so fast and so determined out front in Saturday’s Toyota Tundra 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race his own team had to remind him to slow down and take care of his tires in the closing laps of the series’ debut at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) race.
Despite receiving the cautionary advice, Gilliland, 21, did not ease off and raced to a hefty 7.941-second margin of victory to earn his second career series win and first since 2019. His No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford set the fastest lap of the race with two laps remaining.
“I definitely did a lot of stuff wrong but that’s what I love about road course racing, there’s 20 turns here, 20 opportunities to pass but also make mistakes,’’ Gilliland said, thanking his Front Row Motorsports team.
“Last year we didn’t quite have the season we knew we could and just to come out here and win early, we’ve been building momentum and for my team to get this win is just amazing.’’
Gilliland and the rest of the field ran wet tires flag-to-flag, so his team kept reminding him to be careful and look for wet spots on the track since the rain stopped mid-race. He hit his marks on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit, and he hit the puddled water just enough to carry on to the victory — leading the final six laps and earning an extra $50,000 incentive in the second race of the series’ Triple Truck Challenge.
Kaz Grala finished runner-up, followed by pole-winner Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger and Sheldon Creed, who led a race-best 14 of the 41 laps.
Seventeen-year-old driver Sam Mayer, rookie Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top 10. Championship points leader John Hunter Nemechek finished 12th.
Gilliland won Stage 1 and was first out during the ensuing pit stops during that caution period. But NASCAR ruled one of his pit crew members was over the wall too soon and Gilliland was penalized — sent to the rear of the field on the restart.
With Gilliland now forced to play catch-up, defending series champion Sheldon Creed led most of Stage 2, pitting just before it ended and allowing Ben Rhodes to instead take his first stage win of the year.
Creed and Ankrum battled one another up front — at one point passing each other three different times on one lap — before Gilliland — who methodically worked his way forward was able to take the lead for good with five laps remaining. Grala passed Ankrum with two laps remaining to tie his best ever series finish.
The victory marks Gilliland’s fourth top-10 showing in the last five races and as he told his team on the victory lap, “I know we can do this (win races) a lot.’’
Gilliland becomes the fourth full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver to win this season — joining two-race winners John Hunter Nemechek and Rhodes, and last week’s winner Creed.
The series races Friday night in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which is the final race of the Triple Truck Challenge.
Notes: The No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford cleared post-race inspection and Gilliland was confirmed as the winner. … Ankrum won the Cometic Gasket Pole Award. … Tanner Gray (engine change), Ryan Truex (engine change), Lawless Allen (transmission change), Austin Wayne Self (unapproved adjustments) and Chase Purdy (unapproved adjustments) were all sent to the rear of the field before green flag. … The race started under wet conditions, requiring all teams to begin on their wet-weather Goodyear tires.
AUSTIN, Texas — NASCAR Cup Series drivers are making a splash at the Circuit of The Americas.
Literally.
Rain fell throughout Saturday’s 55-minute practice. The entire 3.41-mile, 20-turn Austin, Texas-based road course was drenched.
Teams put on their wet-weather tires, though, and navigated the circuit for the first time in the sport’s history.
“I just had a blast a second ago, so I’m OK with it raining at this point,” said Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. “Before practice, the unknown and the uncertainty that you’re thinking about as a race-car driver saying, ‘I don’t know how hard to go in. I don’t know what to do. Am I gonna be awful at this? Am I gonna be decent? I don’t know. How is our car going to be? Do we even know how to work on the car?’
“I don’t think we’ve answered all those questions yet, but we have at least a general idea to where I feel more confident if we line up and race at this point.”
Logano logged the second-fastest lap at 77.558 mph, so practice was quite successful. William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the only car faster at 77.847 mph. Byron’s teammate, Kyle Larson, came in third with his No. 5 Chevy at 77.467 mph.
Kyle Busch piloted the fastest Toyota at 77.383 mph for fourth, followed by Chase Elliott in another HMS entry at 77.252 mph.
“Today was quite interesting just with the wet,” Busch said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been in the rain. I guess the Roval last year we had some race in the rain, but haven’t really ever practiced in the rain in order to get a better mindset for what it takes and get a better feel for what it takes. So far today, so good.”
The Cup Series will host qualifying Sunday at 11 a.m. ET to set the lineup for its main event, the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both on-track activities will air live on FS1. Rain remains in the forecast for Sunday.
“I hope it rains tomorrow,” Byron said. “It was really weird at first, just getting used to just where the best line was and getting used to the way you get around there. I’ve spent some time at the go-kart track in the rain, and honestly, you just try to adapt and learn.”
Saturday was the Cup Series’ first practice since Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt weekend back in March. NASCAR chose to limit its at-track schedule for the 2021 schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Like the Bristol Dirt Race, COTA’s race Sunday will be an inaugural event for NASCAR.
“Honestly, I put it in the same category as Bristol,” Logano said. “Bristol Dirt Race, we go in there and say, ‘Let’s just try to figure it out. We’ll have some fun figuring it out.’ We don’t know what the heck we’re doing, and it’s a very slick race track just like Bristol was very, very slick.
“Maybe that’s my wheelhouse and I don’t even know it.”
Logano did win the Bristol Dirt Race. The victory has locked him into the 2021 NASCAR Playoffs, eliminating some of the pressure at COTA.
Nine other drivers are in the same boat as Logano, including Byron. No pun intended there, but at least they’ll stay afloat in the postseason regardless of their COTA outcomes. Everyone else has to figure out how to slip and slide to the checkered flag.
“It’s entertaining, believe me,” Logano said. “I could have stayed out there making laps all day.”
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.
Five to watch
