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Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

Circuit of The Americas turn-by-turn analysis

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Chase Wilhelm NASCAR.com March 23, 2022 at 9:20 AMEditor’s note: This story was first published on May 20, 2021:

The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series are set for Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, for a tripleheader weekend that will include practice and qualifying sessions.

Saturday will be a doubleheader for the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series, with Trucks taking to the track for the XPEL 225 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Xfinity’s Pit Boss 250 race will then be held at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The Cup Series finishes the weekend with Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Before drivers take to the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course, here is a turn-by-turn breakdown, courtesy of eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver Bobby Zalenski.

RELATED: Weekend schedule for COTA

TURN 1

Once drivers take the green flag, it’s a steep uphill climb into a left-hand hairpin turn to kick off the lap.



TURN 2

It’ll be a right-hander out quickly after the exit of the first corner as the track goes back downhill.



TURNS 3-5

The third corner starts the esses portion of the circuit. Turn 3 is a left-hand corner, Turn 4 is a right-hand corner and Turn 5 is another left-hander.

 

TURNS 6-7

This corner is a long, sweeping right-hander, which is immediately followed by a left-hand corner.



TURNS 8-9

Drivers will want to maintain a centered line out of Turn 7 to get a good entry into the right-hand, sweeping eighth turn. Turn 9 is another quick left-hander.



TURN 10

This left-hand corner acts more like a kink in a straightaway. Drivers will use this section to set up for a good passing zone leading into the entry of the 11th turn.

 

TURN 11

Like the first corner but without as much elevation change, Turn 11 is another hairpin left-hander. A long straightaway awaits drivers at the exit of this corner.



TURN 12

After taking the longest straight on the course, drivers with face another sharp left-hand turn, which doesn’t provide a lot of grip for acceleration out of the corner.



TURNS 13-14

These two corners are tight right-handers following a short chute coming out of Turn 12.



TURN 15

Drivers will have to decide if they want to enter this sharp left-hand turn tight or with a wider angle depending on what arc they want to take through the corner.

 

TURNS 16-18

These three turns make up the carousel section, which consists of a series of sweeping right-handers.



TURN 19

This left-hand turn isn’t as tight, serving more of a rolling corner which sends you out into a short straight before heading into the final turn.



TURN 20

The last turn of the course is a hard-braking, sharp left-hand corner. Drivers will be trying to get a good launch off the corner to maximize speed down the frontstretch and toward the start-finish line.

 

Carmen Mandato | Getty Images Carmen Mandato | Getty Images COTA 101: Qualifying pro
Carmen Mandato | Getty Images

COTA 101: Qualifying procedures, history, odds and more

By
Zach Sturniolo NASCAR.com March 24, 2022 at 11:16 AMThe Next Gen car is primed for its road-course debut.

NASCAR heads back to Circuit of The Americas on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. After a downpour of rain shortened the inaugural event in 2021, the Cup Series returns to Austin, Texas, for what’s setting up to be a (dry!) thrilling weekend.

Get set for the weekend with everything you need here:

SHIFTING INTO PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

The Cup Series will hit the track for practice on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET (FS1), with the 39 entered teams divided into Group A and Group B. Each group will be allotted 20 minutes of practice.

After practice, each group will be given a 15-minute timed qualifying session in which teams can set multiple lap times. The fastest five cars from each group will advance to the second round, in which the 10 remaining drivers will fight for the pole award.

COTA HISTORY

— Twenty minutes southeast from the Texas capital in Austin sits the mammoth, 3.41-mile track. Tavo Hellmund announced plans to build the facility on an 890-acre piece of property in 2010, with billionaire Red McCombs named the most financially significant investor.

— The track’s design was submitted by HKS, Inc. and Tilke Engineers & Architects. The Dallas-based HKS designed AT&T Stadium where the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys play, SoFi Stadium which houses the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, among other stadiums. Hermann Tilke is one of four designers recognized by the FIA and has helped create other Formula One facilities like Bahrain International Circuit, Marina Street Bay Circuit and Yas Marina Circuit.

— Since opening in 2012, the circuit has hosted a number of racing and live sporting events including Formula One (2012-2019, 2021), MotoGP World Championship (2013-2019), American Rallycross (2018-2019), V8 Supercars, American Le Mans Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar series, IndyCar and more.

— The track features 20 turns, the first of which is a hairpin atop an 11% gradient incline at the end of the front straightaway. After a series of esses, a blind corner and a hairpin at Turn 11, drivers attack a 0.62-mile (1 km) straightaway that carries them to the second half of the track.

— Sunday’s race will mark the second for Cup at COTA after last year’s debut.

— COTA is the first of six road courses on this year’s schedule.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

While the sidewalls are thinner and the bead diameter increases from 15 inches to 18 for the Next Gen car, Goodyear returns to Circuit of The Americas with the same tread compound as teams used in 2021. This tread is also scheduled to run at Sonoma Raceway and Road America.

Additionally, Goodyear has entirely redesigned its wet-weather radial tire and will bring it to COTA — although the forecast indicates they will not be necessary. The new tire tread is based on Goodyear’s Eagle Supercar 3 consumer tire.

COTA STORY LINES

— Hendrick Motorsports has won eight of the last 11 races overall as well as nine of the last 11 road courses.

— Each of Chase Elliott’s last two wins came on road courses, including this race one year ago as well as the inaugural race at Road America. After William Byron’s win at Atlanta, Elliott is Hendrick Motorsports’ only winless driver this season.

— The last 11 races have been won by drivers under the age of 30, the longest streak in series history.

— Trackhouse Racing is tied with Hendrick Motorsports for the most top fives this season. Ross Chastain, driver of Trackhouse’s No. 1 Chevrolet, finished fourth in this race one year ago and has finished inside the top three in each of the last three races.

— Kurt Busch leads all drivers with a 9.6 average finish through five races. Busch finished inside the top five at both Phoenix (fifth) and Atlanta (third).

Source: Racing Insights
__________________

 

Chastain muscles to first Cup Series victory in wild last lap at COTA

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 27, 2022 8:17 PM ET

Ross Chastain prevailed at Circuit of The Americas to score his first NASCAR Cup Series win after the lead changed hands three times in the final lap of overtime.

Tyler Reddick was the leader on the final restart, but Chastain muscled his way to the front through the esses. AJ Allmendinger followed Chastain through to take the second position.

Chastain led at the white flag but was pushed out of the way by Allmendinger taking the lead in Turn 15. Next came Alex Bowman, who dove to the inside of Allmendinger and Chastain as they were racing each other through Turn 17 to take the top spot briefly. In Turn 19, Chastain strong-armed Allmendinger and sent him into Bowman.

Bowman was shoved wide. Allmendinger spun. Chastain drove around both and won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
UNBELIEVABLE pic.twitter.com/E8pdMIOSSC

— NASCAR (@NASCAR)

“That’s insane,” said Chastain. “To go up against some of the best with AJ – I know he’s going to be upset with me, but we raced hard, both of us, and he owes me one. But when it comes to a Cup win, man, I can’t let that go down without a fight.

“Phil Surgen (crew chief) — he is so good. People don’t know how good this group is. I can’t believe Justin Marks hired me to drive this car.”

This is Chastain’s first victory in his 121 starts. It is also the first victory for Justin Marks, Pitbull and Trackhouse Racing.

Chastain led a race-high 31 laps.

Bowman finished second, Christopher Bell was third, Chase Elliott fourth, and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.

Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney finished sixth, Martin Truex Jr. seventh, Austin Cindric eighth, Erik Jones ninth, and Austin Dillon 10th.

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Blaney led one lap after Daniel Suarez took the lead at the start of the race and led all 15 laps to win the first stage. Suarez ultimately finished 24th, in spit of his strong early run, after being hit by Corey LaJoie at the beginning of the second stage.

Allmendinger finished 33rd after the contact on the last lap.

“At the end of the day, we all got to look at ourselves in the mirror and be OK with it,” said Allmendinger. “Each person’s different. So more than anything [I’m] proud of Kaulig Racing. The Action Industries Chevy was so fast. I think if we could have just a long run, nobody was going to touch us. Pit stops were great. Everybody at Kaulig Racing – all the men and women – a lot of sleepless nights for them right now trying to get these cars to the next race. So I was doing everything I could to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close.

“Like I said, at the end of the day, each person’s got to make the move that they’re comfortable with and that’s fine. We know we had a shot to win the race; It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself in position to legitimately run up front all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately [we] needed about two more corners.”

There were two cautions inside the final 10 scheduled laps. The final caution came with three laps to go, just as the race had restarted. Reddick took the lead on the inside of Chastain and Allmendinger right before the caution flew for a mess in Turn 1 between Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch.

Reddick led two laps Sunday afternoon. So, too, did Allmendinger.

In all, there were 12 lead changes among nine drivers and nine cautions.

 

Allmendinger unhappy with COTA bump-and-run but takes pride in Kaulig team

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 27, 2022 8:56 PM ET

AJ Allmendinger didn’t seem particularly pleased with being moved out of the way by Ross Chastain on the last lap Sunday at Circuit of The Americas.

Chastain came out the victor in a frantic last-lap battle with Allmendinger and Alex Bowman. Running second and chasing down Chastain, Allmendinger used the bumper in Turn 15 to shove Chastain wide and take the lead. He then had a mirror full of Chastain in the next two corners, which briefly allowed Bowman to take the lead through Turn 17.

Then, in Turn 19, Allmendinger was on the receiving end of the bumper from Chastain. Allmendinger bounced off Bowman and spun, getting stuck in the gravel. He finished 33rd.

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Chastain stands by last-lap move at COTA

“At the end of the day, we all got to look at ourselves in the mirror and be OK with it,” said Allmendinger. “Each person’s different. So more than anything [I’m] proud of Kaulig Racing. The Action Industries Chevy was so fast. I think if we could have just a long run, nobody was going to touch us. Pit stops were great.

“Everybody at Kaulig Racing – all the men and women – a lot of sleepless nights for them right now trying to get these cars to the next race. So I was doing everything I could to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close.”

Allmendinger, a full-time Xfinity Series driver for Matt Kaulig, won the Xfinity Series race Saturday. Not running for points in the Cup Series race, Allmendinger and the No. 16 team didn’t earn stage points as they played the track position strategy by pitting before the end of the stages to be at the front on restarts.

“Like I said, at the end of the day, each person’s got to make the move that they’re comfortable with and that’s fine,” said Allmendinger, who led two laps. “We know we had a shot to win the race; It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself in position to legitimately run up front all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately [we] needed about two more corners.”
Had to wreck us to beat us.

HECK of a drive @AJDinger, NO ONE better. NO ONE.

— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing)

 

Chastain stands by last-lap move at COTA

Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images
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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 27, 2022 9:46 PM ET

Ross Chastain moved AJ Allmendinger on the final lap of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas and the Trackhouse Racing driver had no regrets afterward.

“I didn’t draw it up that way in my head, but I did what I did,” said Chastain. “I stand by it.”

Chastain led at the white flag and was shoved aside by Allmendinger in Turn 15. On Allmendinger’s bumper going into Turn 19, Chastain repaid the favor by hitting Allmendinger and sending him into Alex Bowman.

During his television winner’s interview on the frontstretch, Chastain acknowledged it was hard racing by both drivers and Allmendinger, who was probably upset, owes him one. But Chastain also admitted he wouldn’t go down easy with a chance to win his first race.

Chastain’s team owner, Justin Marks, didn’t see anything too egregious in a wild last lap, especially when it comes to an era where winning races puts drivers in the postseason.

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“I struggle to find what’s too much,” Marks said. “Today was no different than how you see so many of these races end. They’re so hard to win. The way people think about racing each other and attacking the racetrack — it changes throughout the race. These races almost always have late-race restarts and there’s so much on the line that you just get to a point where it’s like, all right, who just wants it the most?

“NASCAR’s proven over the last four decades that they’re going to let these races play out like they may and let it self-police. These guys all wanted it. There’s always contact at the end of these races. Honestly, today is not that much different than what you see a lot of times on green-white-checkers at these racetracks. You take that white flag and it’s like, who wants it the most?

“Ross got beat up a little bit today, too. I want to make sure people remember. Ross got used up a little bit today a couple of times. When the money’s on the line and a playoff spot is on the table, you got to do what you got to do. That’s my opinion.”

 

Final restart ends Reddick's COTA win hopes

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 27, 2022 9:15 PM ET

Tyler Reddick needed a better final restart at Circuit of The Americas to have a shot at holding off Ross Chastain and win the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

The finish of the race went into overtime. Having just taken the lead from Chastain on the previous restart, Reddick was in control going for his first Cup Series win. But he didn’t make it cleanly through Turn 1, which opened the door for Chastain to power by through the esses.

“(I) just didn’t get a good launch off Turn 1 and just almost had the 1 car cleared but didn’t quite,” said Reddick, who faded to a fifth-place finish. “We were really on the loose side all day long, and that makes us pretty susceptible to getting aggressive at the end. So, was just easy to get moved around there, and that was kind of a problem I had all day.

“Just a little bit of pressure I had from anybody, and the back of this car was out of the track. It could get through the esses pretty good and could do a lot of things really well, but we just missed it in a little way where if we had to battle other cars in traffic, it was really easy hard to get the good launch off the corner and complete a pass or really battle hard. So, it was tough, but we’ll learn from it and go back to the simulator and go back to work.”

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Sunday was a strong showing for Reddick and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team. While he only led two laps, Reddick was a contender all afternoon and held his own against Chastain, Chase Briscoe, A.J. Allmendinger and others. Reddick consistently sat inside the top five over the final 15 laps and had an impressive restart with 12 laps to go that took him from seventh to third.

COTA is Reddick’s third top-10 finish in the last four races.