‘I want the style of whatever it takes to succeed’: Hocevar on Dale Earnhardt comparisons

Posted on February 28, 2026February 28, 2026 by Cameron Richardson

AUSTIN, Texas — They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that’s certainly true for the attention Carson Hocevar has received for his assertive racing style.

After ruffling fenders with multiple drivers in the closing laps at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway, the No. 77 Spire Motorsports driver kick-started Cup Series media availabilities early Saturday morning at Circuit of The Americas and addressed how his on-track style is drawing comparisons to that of “The Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt.

RELATED: COTA Cup schemes | Key COTA info

“I mean, everybody’s open to their own interpretation,” Hocevar said. “I feel like you’re always just going to be compared to somebody, whether they’re good or bad. You know, if I was really, really slow, there’s probably comparisons of guys that were really, really slow back in the day, too. I just go out and race, and I enjoy it. I take it as a massive compliment, you know, from Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, Dale Jr., all of them making comparisons. I’m appreciative of that. I would like to just have half the success any of those guys did.”

For one to earn comparisons to a 76-win, seven-time Cup Series titleholder, being consistently in contention for victories and running up front needs to be the norm.

That’s been the case for the start of 2026 for Hocevar.

The 23-year-old firecracker been within striking distance of his first career Cup win on the final lap at both Daytona and Atlanta, leading the bell lap in the “Great American Race” before being spun entering Turn 1. The speed has never been a question when discussing Hocevar, but rather his style that’s put him in precarious situations that either take him out of winning contention or take others out.

Hocevar will tell you there is no one driver he is trying to emulate.

“I think if you’re building a perfect race car driver, I think you want to be able to emulate a bit of this guy, a bit of this guy [and] a bit of this guy,” Hocevar said. “You know, you don’t want to just emulate one whole driver. I think you just want to be successful or be versatile in all areas. There’s not, like, a direct style. I just want the style of whatever it takes to succeed, whether it’s being aggressive in this spot or letting somebody else be aggressive for me and taking that spot. It’s just all circumstantial. You’re racing at different corners at different times. You’re playing different people, right? You know, it’s not like any other sport where you’re just playing the same guy over and over and over. You have one restart, and you have totally different guys than you’ve been racing around all day. You’re going to have to be able to change with them.”

In season No. 3 at the Cup level, Hocevar is sensing the narrative change for the entire Spire Motorsports organization as he creates waves up toward the front of the field now.

Going from a one-car team at select events to a borderline powerhouse with three cars in the stable, Hocevar says the rest of the Cup garage is taking note, and the gaps on track are only shrinking as Spire continues to climb the ladder.

“I feel like going into my rookie year, that [77] was 33rd in owners points when I got into it, right?,” Hocevar said. “So, I think from Spire Motorsports’ steps, I think every team that’s not the big three teams that are basically dominating, they’re all trying to emulate Spire’s progression. You saw 23XI [Racing], they’re super successful. Trackhouse Racing is super successful. But now, we’re on that. It’s a lot easier to say it and say you have a five-year plan, but it’s really hard to actually pull it off because when we get faster, the big teams see it, and they want to get faster. So it’s like, did you actually get faster or did everybody else just get faster with you? So if everybody else got faster, did you actually get faster?

“The field just keeps getting tighter. The floors are raising higher than the ceiling right now. We continue to keep adding people, parts and pieces and processes that I think it was known to all of us after the second year that it was expected to have won already, just because I think if we weren’t so fast, people would still think Spire is this little team. But there’s been a lot of times we’ve been in contention, and we’ve changed that narrative ourselves.”

Logan Riely | Getty Images

A Cup Series win is on the horizon for Hocevar, and when that time comes, the comparisons to Earnhardt are only going to grow larger.

They may continue to balloon heading into Sunday’s race at COTA (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as Hocevar debuts a new Chili’s scheme that emulates the iconic black livery that first earned Earnhardt “The Intimidator” moniker.

MORE: Weekend schedule | Cup Series schedule

For now, Hocevar isn’t fully embracing a 2.0 version, but he won’t shy away from the influence and what his growing influence could be for future generations of drivers.

“I think we’ve been in position to win these races,” Hocevar said. “I don’t know if this week we’ll show that, but I think we have really good tracks coming up that we can do that. But for me, I’m just going in the merch hauler and signing [No.] 77 die casts. You know, that’s me. Maybe in 20-30 years, somebody’s hopefully making comparisons of myself to the next kid that was doing it and running good.

“So, yeah, I just think it was a compliment, but you know, I’m not hanging up No. 3 posters on my wall and trying to pretend to be anything I’m not.”

Posted on February 28, 2026March 1, 2026 by Reid Spencer

AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of The Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.

Navigating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track and will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Qualifying results | At-track photos

Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.

The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.

“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”

Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph, but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph and will start on the front row beside Reddick.

The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road-course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.

Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road-course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road-course wins.

Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road-course victories.

Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.

“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney — there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”

Posted on February 28, 2026March 1, 2026 by Dustin Albino

AUSTIN, Texas – Tyler Reddick doesn’t declare himself to be a statistical wizard, but he understands history is on the line this Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

By winning the opening two races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season in dramatic fashion – a last-lap pass in the Daytona 500 and holding off the pack at EchoPark Speedway in double overtime – Reddick became the sixth driver ever to win the first two races of a single season. No driver has ever swept the first three events.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

“It’s kind of fitting that we come here with that opportunity to be in position for that, and it’s going to be super important that the things we work on apply today and tomorrow,” Reddick said at the crack of dawn on Saturday during a media availability.

Only David Pearson (1976), Jeff Gordon (1997) and Matt Kenseth (2009) have won the opening two races in NASCAR’s modern era. During the 1950s, Marvin Panch (1957) and Bob Welborn (1959) accomplished the same feat. After wins at Willow Spring Speedway – north of Los Angeles – and Concord Speedway, minutes away from NASCAR’s current hub of Charlotte, Panch placed third at Titusville-Cocoa Speedway in Florida. That was the closest a driver has ever come to scoring wins in the opening three races. Kenseth’s attempt went up in smoke – literally – at Lap 6, blowing an engine at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 17 years ago.

COTA is the perfect place for Reddick to get his chance, especially after the No. 45 driver won the pole for Sunday’s race. In his prior five starts at the famed road course, he is one of two drivers in the field who have never finished outside the top 10 (Alex Bowman). Reddick’s 4.6 average finish at COTA leads the league and is his personal best at any single venue.

“We’ve been strong when you look amongst the field at road courses, but I really like coming here and coming to these other road courses and contending for wins,” Reddick added. “I guess last time we were here, we were pretty close, but from pretty much this point on for the rest of last year, it was out of sight for us.

“I like Watkins Glen – it’s fast. Sonoma is fun, but this place, there is so much happening over the course of the lap. Whether it’s approaches, driving styles, how the corners are shaped – you can’t just have one approach and copy and paste it to the whole track. You have to have a different approach for the different sections and I’ve always enjoyed that about this place.”

In his first COTA attempt with 23XI Racing in 2023, Reddick won in grand fashion. The No. 45 Toyota led a race-high 41 laps from a front-row starting spot en route to his first victory with the organization.

Since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022, few drivers have performed better on road courses than Reddick. Three of his 10 career Cup triumphs have come on road courses, and he is tied with Chris Buescher for 17 top-10 finishes in 23 starts. Fourteen of those have come in the last 17 races overall.

Without a doubt, though, COTA is Reddick’s favorite road course.

MORE: Hot start continues for Reddick, 23XI Racing at EchoPark

“We will have to find a way to close the gap to Shane [van Gisbergen], and Connor [Zilisch] has been very strong on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series side,” he added. “I wouldn’t be shocked if both of them are up there in the front of this thing.”

Since van Gisbergen burst onto the stage with immediate success, it has challenged the Cup Series field to improve. Reddick wouldn’t go as far as saying he has a chip on his shoulder to prove he can still excel at road courses, but he knows there is room to grow.

“I feel like I always need to show up and go as fast as I can,” he noted. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily to prove it to anybody else, but just go out there and run well and score a lot of points. When you look at it, [van Gisbergen has] done a good job of starting up front, having a clean race and making it hard for anyone to even challenge him. It adds to it, but it’s not anymore so than other weekends when it’s a race or track type that things have gotten away from us.”

Should Reddick, Bubba Wallace or Riley Herbst win on Sunday, 23XI Racing will become the third organization in Cup history to conquer the first three races of a single season (DePaolo Engineering, 1957 and Petty Enterprises, 1963).

Posted on February 27, 2026February 28, 2026 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers will pit this weekend at Circuit of The Americas, as well as where your favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit on the streets of St. Petersburg.

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series DuraMax Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne on Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on FOX

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 on Saturday at Circuit of The Americas (3 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Street Course (noon ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on February 27, 2026February 27, 2026 by Zack Albert

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The cloak of uncertainty that hangs on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ first street-circuit race just got a bit heavier — and wetter — to wear.

A challenging track, a festival atmosphere and precious little on-track time greeted the Truck Series in Friday’s prelude to Saturday’s OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 (noon ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, FOX One) on the streets of St. Petersburg. Rain dampened the 1.8-mile temporary road course barely 10 minutes into what was scheduled to be a 50-minute practice session with a qualifying chaser. Every driver in the field got on track, but none turned more than eight laps.

It’s another question mark for what’s in store for Saturday’s 80-lap, 144-mile matinee, the third race of the early Truck Series campaign.

“Honestly, I think that it’s probably the most fun I’ve had on a road course ever,” said Tricon Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt as he made the soggy walk from pit road to the Truck Series garage. He’ll start 19th Saturday. “I loved it. I don’t know, honestly there’s so many variables, especially now that we’re not gonna qualify, so many good guys will be in the back, some struggling guys are gonna start out front. So it’s just the way it works.”

Overcast skies Friday replaced the sun-splashed clear blue from Thursday’s load-in and orientation day, when IndyCar team personnel shared the circuit with the Truck Series’ early arrivals for a preliminary track walk. The tight nature of certain locations on the temporary course came into first view, as well as the realization that the well-worn barriers that form the lap layout already have plenty of character.

Three on-track incidents marked IndyCar’s opening practice, and a full 36-truck field may add more character marks in Saturday’s show, especially if the potential for lingering rain in the forecast prompts the installation of wet-weather Goodyear tires.

“I mean, we’ve just got to work through it,” said Daniel Hemric, who starts 34th for McAnally Hilgemann Racing. “Obviously, with the little bit of experience I got with Chicago in particular, the rain racing is different than rain racing in other places, just because the oils in the streets from regular cars. So it just adds another element. But yeah, it’s not completely out of the ordinary for what we’ve done in the past. We’ll just all adapt to it.”

David Jensen | Getty Images

The race weekend is the first of two consecutive meets where NASCAR will share the stage with IndyCar, which opens its 2026 season on the streets of St. Pete. Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will be the main event at Phoenix Raceway, where IndyCar will join the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for a Saturday doubleheader.

MORE: Entry list highlights | Weekend schedule: COTA, St. Pete

The blend here has so far been a popular one, with a robust Friday turnout along the downtown waterfront circuit, where fans spilled out onto the grounds with drinks and food-truck fare in hand. IndyCar and Trucks make for a curious mix of motorsports cultures, and the Mazda MX-5 Cup and USF2000 series have added more variety for good measure.

“It’s very different from the NASCAR scene, and it’s cool that you get to have the fans kind of walk around here in the garage area,” says Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs. “Had a lot of people say this is their first time seeing NASCAR in person, and that’s really cool for us to get some new eyes on our series. I think that we’re the gritty American series, we’re gonna put on some gritty American racing, and hopefully we put on a good show and we can come back in future years.”

Said Hemric: “I honestly didn’t grow up watching any IndyCar stuff, but over the last probably seven or eight years, became buddies with a couple of them over there. Scott McLaughlin, in particular, was somebody I actually called this week, like, ‘hey, all right, give me the scoop. Like, what’s the little nuances here and there?’ So yeah, it’s been fun to kind of be integrated with them, part of … I’d call it a doubleheader weekend, but there’s other series here as well, which is really cool to see fans from all over and they’re enjoying it. I’ve been to three different restaurants since I’ve been to town, and you walk in and people around you are talking about racing. It’s really, really cool to see. So it’s cool to be welcomed and hopefully put the show on that they deserve.”

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Holly Cain

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The four-time IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 IndyCar St. Pete Grand Prix winner Dario Franchitti is making his first NASCAR start since 2008 and competing in his first nationally sanctioned race of any kind since 2013.

That’s the power of his longtime friend, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Cup Series Legacy Motor Club team owner Jimmie Johnson, who persuaded Franchitti to return to the driver’s seat this weekend to steer the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota on the streets of St. Pete.

MORE: Weekend schedule: St. Pete, COTA

“He’s worked hard at putting this whole thing together from the very first conversation,” Franchitti said of the NASCAR Hall of Famer Johnson, who has even committed to helping guide Franchitti during the race from atop the pit box.

“Jimmie is going to be there giving me advice. Even two nights ago he’s on the phone 11:00 at night and 7:00 the next morning talking about restarts. He’s fully into it (smiling).

“When you have a seven-time NASCAR champion with you there getting that information, I wish he’d been there in 2008 doing that job. It would have helped,” Franchitti joked of his NASCAR foray nearly 20 years ago.

“There’s no substitute for experience. He might be thinking at some point he wished he got in the truck and drove it here instead of me, depending on how I get on.”

David Jensen | Getty Images

Posted on February 27, 2026March 1, 2026 by Dustin Albino

AUSTIN, Texas – Shane van Gisbergen knows that history is on the line this Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Van Gisbergen scorched the rest of the Cup Series field on road courses in 2025, earning 293 points (averaging 48.8 points per race), 73 markers more than the next closest competitor, Christopher Bell. He ended the season by winning the final five road-course races contested, beginning with the Cup Series’ first visit south of the United States border at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City by a lofty 16.5 seconds.

Should van Gisbergen put on another clinic on Sunday, he will tie Jeff Gordon for the longest winning streak on road courses in Cup Series history (1997-2000). Additionally, he’d tie Chase Elliott at seven road course wins, the most among active drivers.

“It would be pretty cool,” van Gisbergen said, pondering the idea of winning a sixth straight race. “Kevin Harvick, I did an interview with him the other day and he brought that up. It’s a very different time with a lot more races per year, but as a crew last year, we had an amazing year, and it would be awesome to carry that on into this year.”

MORE: COTA schedule | Full Cup Series schedule

When van Gisbergen won in 2025, he did so in big fashion. Three of his triumphs last year had the largest margins of victory on a road course since 1996. In addition to the Mexico City rout, he won at Watkins Glen International by 11.1 seconds and again by 15.1 seconds at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. The 2025 season marked the first campaign since 1966 to feature multiple road-course races with the margin of victory in each exceeding 15 seconds.

In the six road-course attempts during his rookie season, van Gisbergen led 52% of the laps and ran inside the top five positions 85% of the time. Only 5% of his 579 laps completed while turning left and right were spent outside of the top 10, according to Racing Insights.

The outlier was COTA, however. Through two Cup starts at the famed road course, van Gisbergen has yet to achieve his victory celebration of punting a rugby ball into the grandstands. He was also defeated in his lone O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start by Kyle Larson on the 20-turn layout in 2024, though he did have a showdown with Austin Hill in the final two laps. He was deemed to cut the course on the last lap and was credited with a 27th-place finish.

“I like the place. I just haven’t managed to put a full race together,” van Gisbergen said. “I think every race I’ve done here in the NASCAR series, I’ve been reasonably quick, but for one reason or another, I haven’t managed to get it done.”

During van Gisbergen’s 2024 Cup start with Kaulig Racing, he was caught speeding on pit road in Stage 2, dropping to 20th in the finishing order. In the first race of the shortened configuration last year, he led 23 laps before getting shuffled back into the pack, placing sixth at the checkered flag. It also marked just the third time Trackhouse Racing entered a third full-time entry into a race.

“Last year, it was the third race again, so we were very new with Trackhouse,” van Gisbergen said. “I made some mistakes and we weren’t really there yet as a team early in the year. Hopefully, that compounds and we’re a bit stronger this year.”

Making his 53rd career Cup start, van Gisbergen is aiming to become the quickest driver in the modern era to reach seven Cup Series victories.

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski plans to start Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) while recovering from a broken right leg.

Keselowski, who broke his femur in a December fall, completed each of the season’s first two races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway, both of which are drafting-style ovals.

But with more physical strain ahead at the 2.4-mile road course, Keselowski will have sports-car ace Joey Hand on standby in case Keselowski needs to step out of his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford. Keselowski announced his plans to race Friday via social media, referencing the song “The Distance” by CAKE, and an RFK Racing spokesperson confirmed the plan to NASCAR.com at COTA.

Results after the last few days of simulator, go karting and X-Rays say—-> https://t.co/TgCP4YOOFt pic.twitter.com/TRcYJtkANo

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) February 27, 2026

Hand has made eight NASCAR Cup Series starts, including one in 2022 at COTA’s full-length circuit. His best effort came while driving for RFK Racing on the Chicago Street Course in 2024, leading seven laps in the team’s No. 60 entry and earning a fourth-place finish in wet conditions. Additionally, Hand owns wins on some of motorsports’ grandest stages, including the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring and a class victory in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“We’re glad to have him,” Keselowski said about Hand ahead of last week’s race at EchoPark. “He’s the Ford reserve driver for all the road courses. He’s won all the big races that you can win across the globe. A great guy, too, and he’s been very helpful.”

Keselowski underwent additional midweek medical and physical tests to confirm he could endure extensive time behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Keselowski enters COTA ninth in the points standings, 64 points behind series leader Tyler Reddick.

Posted on February 27, 2026March 5, 2026 by NASCAR Official Release

NEW YORK — Today, Prime Video announced a March 5 premiere date for “Full Speed: The Daytona 500.” After the first two seasons debuted on Netflix, “Full Speed” will make the move to Prime Video, with Seasons 1 and 2 also now available on Prime Video. “Full Speed: The Daytona 500” will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. The film is the latest addition to the Prime membership. Prime members in the U.S. enjoy savings, convenience and entertainment, all in a single membership.

Tyler Reddick described his win at the 2026 Daytona 500 as “true Daytona madness,” and “Full Speed: The Daytona 500” will capture all the madness of the race in a feature-length documentary that will take audiences inside NASCAR’s crown jewel like never before. The film will deliver an unfiltered look at the biggest race and the best drivers on the planet.

RELATED: 2026 Daytona 500 recap

Shot with the scale and intensity of a theatrical film, “Full Speed: The Daytona 500“ will blend sweeping, cinematic visuals with immersive and visceral racing sequences, an electrifying score and innovative editing. At its core, the story will delve into the lives of four drivers: Kyle Busch, Connor Zilisch, Brad Keselowski and Noah Gragson; their teams; their families; and their sacrifices – building toward the most pressure-filled day of the season.

In classic form, the race was unpredictable all the way through, and in the end, Reddick led for only one lap, but it was the most important one: the last. Navigating his No. 45 Toyota through a chaotic, wreck-filled final lap, he claimed his first Daytona crown, and the first for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

“Full Speed” is produced by NASCAR Studios, Words + Pictures, Tim Mullen and Jackie Decker. Mullen and Decker also serve as directors. The series is executive produced by Tim Clark, John Dahl, Tally Hair and Ben Kennedy of NASCAR Studios, in addition to Connor Schell, Aaron Cohen and Nick Eisenberg of Words + Pictures.

MORE: 2026 Cup Series schedule | How to watch NASCAR on Prime

NASCAR on Prime returns for its second season of exclusive coverage on Sunday, May 24, at 6 p.m. ET with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first of five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races. Fans in the U.S. will be able to watch NASCAR live at home or on the go, and across hundreds of compatible devices, streaming from the web, or using the Prime Video app on smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles and connected TVs.

Posted on February 27, 2026February 27, 2026 by Zack Albert

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is set for something new this weekend, its first street-circuit race on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The 1.8-mile, 14-turn waterfront course has long been a challenge for the NTT IndyCar Series, and NASCAR will get its first taste of it this weekend.

The Truck Series is set for a Saturday matinee (Noon ET, FOX, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in St. Pete, sharing the stage with IndyCar, which opens its season Sunday with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Noon ET, FOX). Saturday’s start marks the third of 25 races this year for the Truck Series, which started the season with a pair of drafting-style tracks at Daytona and EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta.

This weekend’s event is far different, on a twisting layout that borders Tampa Bay and the St. Petersburg Harbor and Marina, and that circles Pioneer Park and the Salvador Dali Museum. The circuit uses portions of the runway of Albert Whitted Airport and Bayshore Drive in the heart of downtown.

That scenery becomes a center for speed this weekend. Here is a breakdown of the temporary street course, with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin — last year’s IndyCar pole winner at St. Pete — as the in-car guide.

IndyCar

Turns 1-2

IndyCar

The first corner will provide ample passing opportunity at the end of the long homestretch, a runway which ends with a sharply angled right-hander. The painted surface at the end of the braking area could be slick. There’s plenty of run-off area as well, should any driver overcook the corner and run wide. Those wayward drivers will have to regain composure quickly for a purposeful left-hand curve that comes soon after the initial bend, and a tire pack will be at driver’s left just off the Turn 2 curb.

Turn 3

IndyCar

Fast on the heels of the Turn 2 exit is a sweeping right as the course tightens through a slight esse, a continual turn where drivers will stand on the gas to build momentum onto another straight.

Turns 4-7

IndyCar

The course gets technical at the end of the backstretch with a snug right, followed by two tight left-handers. The demands on precision will be high before a right-hand kink provides an outlet.

Turns 8-9

IndyCar

A double set of right-hand, nearly 90-degree corners frames St. Pete’s Pioneer Park and tees the course up to head for home. The chute between the two doesn’t provide much of a breather, and the Turn 9 area has been bumpier compared to previous events there. The chute exiting Turn 9 is also where the orange “Choose V” for restart lane choice is marked.

Turn 10

IndyCar

Another long stretch with a slight left-hand kink sets up the entrance to Dan Wheldon Way in Turn 10, a sharp left just outside the doors of the Dali Museum and the Festival Plaza area for fans. The outside barrier comes up fast in the tricky braking zone on corner exit.

Turns 11-12

IndyCar

A quick chicane runs tight to the wall on the right turn before a left along rumble-strip curbing in the last section of the lap.

Turns 13-14

IndyCar

The 13th and 14th corner acts as one long turn, and getting it right is key to building speed on the start/finish straight — or executing a late pass for the win. This area is also the location for the restart zone, a 140-foot segment that starts where the inside curbing meets the service road. The zone will be outlined by red marks in the trackside grass. After exiting the final turn, pit-road entry comes up on the right.