March 24, 2023 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

NASCAR Cup Series readies for the first of six road courses this season

AUSTIN, Texas – The NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of the season, the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the Circuit of The Americas will feature a highly anticipated new look – from its diverse driver lineup, new rules package and a variance to the stage format from recent years.

This challenging course will be a true test of skill – not only with the purpose-built 3.41-mile, 20-turn Circuit of The Americas road course but also because it features a dynamic first-of-the-season field that includes a pair of Formula One champions in Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen; an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship champion Jordan Taylor, an IndyCar Series regular in Conor Daly and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who is making one of his limited 2023 starts at the track as well.

Tyler Reddick topped the speed chart during Friday’s Cup practice with a lap of 132.016 mph (92.989 seconds). He enjoyed a breakout season in 2022 scoring three wins—the first two on road courses. Since the new car’s debut last year, Reddick leads all drivers with two road course wins (at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Road America).

He is one of 12 active road course winners among the NASCAR Cup Series regulars this weekend. Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson lead the series with four road course wins each. Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, Christopher Bell, Reddick, championship points leader Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Johnson and Ross Chastain round out the list of NASCAR full-timers with road course trophies.

While Busch has an Xfinity Series win (2021) at COTA to his credit, he’s never won in the NASCAR Cup Series there.

Chastain earned his first career win in last year’s COTA race, besting Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman by 1.331-seconds in a dramatic final lap in overtime. The Trackhouse Racing driver led a race-best 27 of the 46 laps, capping off his milestone victory with a watermelon toss at the finish line – a nod to his family’s watermelon farming business in Florida.

“Last year’s win was huge for so many people and so many different reasons," said Chastain, who is currently ranked third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, five points behind leader Joey Logano. “It was my first win, it was Justin’s [Marks] first win as a team owner, it was my crew chief’s first win in his position, my spotter’s first win, and some of the crew guys, it was their first win.

“These people all put so much effort into making the car go fast and I have to execute to the car’s fullest extent, and when that happens and we win, there’s no greater feeling.”

Chastain topped qualifying for the Craftsman Trucks Series on Friday. His fourth career truck pole.

Undoubtedly, the list of non-regulars hoping to earn a position in the field this weekend will keep the stock car set honest. Button, the 2009 F1 champion, who will drive the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford has four COTA starts in Formula One with a best showing of fifth in the 2012 inaugural race. The 2007 F1 champion Raikkonen, who will make his second start in the Trackhouse Racing’s No. 91 Project91 Chevrolet, has 21 F1 wins and earned his final world championship victory at COTA in 2018.

Taylor, 31, will drive the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Chase Elliott – the 2021 COTA race winner who continues to recover from a leg injury. The four-time IMSA sports car champion Taylor is a two-time IMSA race winner at the track – earning both victories from pole position. In four starts there he has two wins and a runner-up showing.

“Jordan is a world-class road racer and has recently been working with our Garage 56 team preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” team owner Rick Hendrick said. “He’ll be able to step in and do a great job at COTA."

This will be both Johnson’s and Daly’s NASCAR Cup Series debut at COTA.

Beyond the talented and diverse entry field, there will be several new aspects to the race. Points will still be awarded for stage wins, but the race won’t be stopped after each of those segments as done at other venues. And the cars will run a different technical set-up on road courses and short tracks – including a two-inch spoiler this weekend.

It all creates an exciting atmosphere for Sunday’s race, which already boasts a tightly-bunched championship field. The top seven drivers are separated by only 24 points.

Last week’s Atlanta race winner, Team Penske’s Joey Logano holds a slight 1-point edge over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. Chastain is five points back, followed by Penske’s Ryan Blaney (-16), RFK Racing's owner/driver Brad Keselowski (-17), Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick (-22) – who will be making his final COTA start before retiring at the end of the year – and Busch (-24).