Arguably the most unorthodox start to a NASCAR Cup Series season yet runs through Circuit of the Americas this weekend.
That’s right.
Not only is this season starting with two pack drafting races followed by a road course but this isn’t even the same version of the Austin, Texas track utilized since the 2021 season. Instead of the 3.426-mile Grand Prix course also used by Formula 1, the Cup Series is now going to shake things up with the 2.3-mile national layout.
There are a lot of reasons for Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns this date but leases the facility, to want to run this configuration. It shaves a minute of lap time off the course, meaning more laps for fans who watch from the remaining usable grandstands, but it’s also a shorter layout which will have the leaders in lapped traffic sooner on a long green flag run.
One of the favorites is rookie Shane Van Gisbergen, who won in the Xfinity Series on the previous layout but also raced on a different version of the COTA short course during his Supercars tenure back in 2014.
“I did like the long track, but I see why they shortened it,” said Van Gisbergen over the weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “More time past the stands and more action. And the cut-through that’s done (from Turn 6), we don’t lose any passing spots. That extra bit (Turns 7 through 11), there’s only one real passing spot, and they’re kept one with the cut-through. More laps, too. I think it’s probably a good thing, a shorter track.”
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric was still digesting it over the weekend without having seen it in person yet.
“I think shortening the track definitely changes quite a few things,” Cindric said. “The lap count, from a fan standpoint, I think that is more than anything else.
“How much do you prioritize the other corners that still exist on the race track? Past that, there are still plenty of elements to take away. It is a very unique circuit. WIth all 20 turns on it you can’t specialize your car. There is a fairly equal number of left and rights [hand turns], a fairly equal amount of high-speed corners.
“Now, I feel like you can make the argument that there are more low speed corners. Being able to understand what it takes to be fast around there, being able to adapt to understand what is best. You still have a pretty good brake zone into turn one. You still have a pretty good brake zone going into turn 12, albeit you aren’t going 180 [mph] into the corner anymore.. I think you keep all of those passing zones even on the shorter course.”
To his point, the old layout had that long straight into a hard braking zone, which is one of the passing spots that Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing says he is going to miss.
“It takes a significant portion of the track away,” Dillon said. “It just makes certain corners more important now. The speed you carry there is going to be really important for qualifying. And then where you decide to attack and pass, there’s just a couple little less places. So, I mean, trap position probably be a little more important.”
Alex Bowman summed it succinctly as he said ‘two corners added, two corners taken away.’
Right now, all drivers have been able to do to prepare is turn laps within the respective simulators at the manufacturers facilities and even then as Denny Hamlin pointed out on his Actions Detrimental podcast, it’s somewhat incomplete.
Chase Elliott shared over the weekend that it’s a guessing game until practice.
“Yeah, a little bit.. trying to,” said the 2020 champion. “It’s kind of one of those things where it’s tough because the only thing you can do is simulator work, right, until you can get some eyes on it. The good news is that we’ve got some practice next week to understand the reconfiguration.”
To his point, there are two practice sessions on Saturday morning for the Cup Series.
“I do not have my head wrapped around it completely at this point,” Elliott said. “I mean, I know what it’s supposed to look like, but I think until you really get out there and feel it – for me, it’s always hard to kind of understand exactly how things are going to be. And I kind of hate guessing because I don’t want to guess wrong in that situation, so I just kind of look forward to practice, honestly, more than anything.
“I would have to imagine it will change the racing a little, I would think, just based off the way it’s shaped. So hopefully it gives more opportunities to get crafty; have some more options, opportunities to pass or just be different. If it does, great. And if it doesn’t, it’ll look like it has for the last few years out there.”
Anticipated debut
This weekend also marks the Cup Series debut of top prospect, arguably in the entire category, in Connor Zilisch for Trackhouse Racing.
Already a Rolex 24 winner who also has several youngest winner or champion records across several road racing disciplines, the 18-year-old also won in his Xfinity Series debut last summer at Watkins Glen International.
Zilisch and Trackhouse had explored a Cup Series debut for later in the season, but the current record for youngest winner at the highest level is Joey Logano at 19 years, one month and four days. The Trackhouse prodigy turns 19 on July 22.
“I want to try and become the youngest Cup Series winner, and to do that, I have to race as soon as possible and get it in before I turn 19,” Zilisch said. “I wanted to at least give myself a shot at that. So, that was definitely part of my thinking. Honestly, I don’t think there was anything that told me that I’m not ready to race on a road course on Sunday.”
To his point, Zilisch is still developing as an oval racer and that is why he is full-time in the Xfinity Series this year on loan to JR Motorsports.
“I want to be prepared when I make that jump and I think that’s crucial for me,” Zilisch said. “I still have a lot of work to do to race against Joey Logano, Kyle Larson and those guys. It’s going to be a jump to race on Sundays, so when I make that transition, I want to be ready for it. I’m in no rush to get there but obviously, that’s not my decision. Everyone else around me has a better understanding of what that transition is like, and they’ll know when I’m ready.”
But recognizing his elite level road racing prowess, some Vegas markets are already listing Zilisch as +600 to win, generally unheard of for a teenaged rookie. Again, this is a Rolex 24 winner and the markets were burned once when teammate Van Gisbergen won in his Cup debut in 2023 on the Streets of Chicago.
New tire compound
Goodyear has brought a different tire compound for this event but also all Cup Series road course races this season. The spec tire provider says it is designed for more fallout and increased wear.
“COTA is an impressive facility and has been a welcomed addition to the schedule since it came on board four seasons ago,” said Goodyear general manager of global race tires Stu Grant. “For the Cup cars, we have a new tire for this race so they will have additional practice to tune in their car set-ups.”
There are also, of course, wet weather tires should they be needed over the course of the weekend.
Entries, qualifying order
Playoff Grid
William Byron W
Christopher Bell W
Ryan Blaney +41
Tyler Reddick +26
Austin Cindric +22
Bubba Wallace +18
Kyle Larson +15
JH Nemechek +15
Ricky Stenhouse +15
Alex Bowman +13
Chase Elliott +10
Joey Logano +9
Denny Hamlin +5
Michael McDowell +5
Carson Hocevar +2
Chris Buescher +1
—
Erik Jones -1
Riley Herbst -7
Ty Dillon -8
Austin Dillon -8
Ross Chastain -10
Todd Gilliland -11
Kyle Busch -12
Daniel Suarez -14
Justin Haley -16
AJ Allmendinger -17
Zane Smith -20
Ty Gibbs -21
Ryan Preece -23
Josh Berry -24
Brad Keselowski -26
Shane Van Gisbergen -29
Cole Custer -30
Noah Gragson -34
Chase Briscoe -98
Schedule
Friday
5 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice (Timed, 50 Minutes) CW
6 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound, Group One & Two: Multi-Vehicle) CW
Saturday
10 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Practice One (Timed, Group One: 20 Minutes; Group Two: 20 Minutes) Prime
11:45 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Practice Two (Timed, Group One: 20 Minutes; Group Two: 20 Minutes) Prime
12:30 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (Impound, Group One & Two: Multi-Vehicle) Prime
2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (Stages 20/40/65 Laps = 156 miles) CW
Sunday
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Race (Stages 20/45/95 Laps = 228 miles) FOX
