Matt Johnson
Sunday’s DuraMax Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, delivered the Cup Series a historic result on a day with a lot of clean driving and limited cautions. It also marked the first road course race of the season and we’re now three races into the new Chase format with points more important than ever.
Let’s dive into our winners and losers from the NASCAR race today at COTA. For this list, we’re focused on drivers that performed well in the DuraMax Grand Prix and some who are now in a bad spot in the points leaderboard.
Winner: Tyler Reddick Makes History
Tyler Reddick is the first driver in Cup Series history to win the first three points races of the season. Victories at Daytona and Atlanta had a bit of luck involved, but this was pure domination from Reddick and the No. 45 team at COTA. He won the pole on Saturday and finished the NASCAR race today with the most laps led by a wide margin, leading nearly 60 of the 95 laps. Reddick’s domination this season is just incredible to witness and shows why he’s a serious threat to win the Cup Series crown this year and why 23XI Racing is taking that next step as a top team.
Related: NASCAR Results Today COTA, NASCAR Cup Series Stage Results
Loser: Spinouts Cost Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch had one of the fastest cars on the track at COTA. Unfortunately, chaos around him prevented a top finish. The No. 88 car struggled in qualifying and started the day 25th. At the start of Stage 2, he was near the front of the field for the restart when Daniel Suarez got into him and spun him. It dropped Zilisch to the back of the field. Remarkably, the 19-year-old worked his way back to the front and was even in the top three past the halfway point of the final stage. A caution brought out the restart with under 20 laps to go, and in a chaotic Turn 1, contact on the inside spilled to the outside and spun Zilisch’s car around. He dropped back outside the top 25. Zilisch truly had some impressive moments on Sunday, but the results won’t show it because of what others did in his proximity. Honestly, it’s remarkable that he manage to place 14th after everything that transpired.
Related: NASCAR Points Leaders Today after Circuit of the Americas
Winner: Ross Chastain’s Stage 1 Win Saves Disastrous Day
Coming into the NASCAR race today, Ross Chastain already sat 11th in points ahead of the likes of William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Kyle larson and Denny Hamlin. The No. 1 team qualifeid second for the DuraMax Texas Grand Prix and played the strategy game early, opting not to pit on the first stage. Once Ryan Blaney was out of the way, Chastain easily took Stage 1 and started his Sunday with 10 points. Staying out for that stage win and those points proved even more important given that Chastain’s right wheel came off with under 25 laps to go in the final stage. That dropped him to the back of the field and he finished the day in 35th. Ordinarily, that would only mean 2 points for Chastain. However, thanks to the Stage 1 win (10 points) and the Xfinity fastest lap (1 point), he walks out of Texas with 13 points.
Related: NASCAR O’Reilly Series Results from COTA
Loser: Kyle Larson’s Cool Suit and Drink System
While it wasn’t a particularly hot day in Austin, the on-track temperature approached 100 degrees on Sunday. That’s not abnormally high for a NASCAR driver, but the heat felt worse for Kyle Larson because his cool suit malfunctioned. The situation deteriorated further when Larson began having issues with his drink system shortly thereafter. As the FOX broadcast noted, the first warm race of the season is often the most taxing, and road courses are particularly grueling due to the physical energy they require. Larson’s equipment let him down in a major way. At least Larson salvaged the day with a top-10 finish.
Winner: Ty Gibbs Gets Stage 2 Win and Top 5 Finish
Ty Gibbs entered the NASCAR race today with 17 points total in the first two races. He accumulated 15 points at COTA in the first two stages alone. Best of all, even after going for the win in Stage 2, Gibbs still raced his way to a top-five finish on the day. Those felt desperately needed for Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 54 team, especially in light of what Chris Gabehart has said about the direction of the team and its extreme allegiance to Joe Gibbs’ grandson. The No. 54 crew needed some positivity coming out of Texas, just a semblance of something that could push the headlines from the court battle to the side for a day or two. A stage win and Sunday’s performance are just that.
Loser: Alex Bowman’s Rough Days Only Gets Worse
Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team needed a strong showing at COTA. This seemed like the track for it to happen, given his penchant for top-10 finishes in Austin. Unfortunately, a mistake made by the crew derailed those hopes. After earning 4 stage points in Stage 1, Bowman had to take a pass-through penalty after an uncontrolled tire bounced into another pit box. He never recovered from it, and now the fourth-best driver at Hendrick Motorsports is in a massive points hole heading into Phoenix. To make matters worse, Bowman was feeling so ill that he had to take himself out of commission and be replaced with a backup driver. In three races, Bowman’s best finish is 23rd and he’s twice been outside the top 32.
Winner: Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen’s streak of consecutive wins on road courses ends at five. However, he still recorded the third-most points on the day and finished second behind Tyler Reddick. These points are massive for SVG, as they give him even more breathing room as he tries to snag one of the 16 spots in The Chase playoff format. With this showing and his improvement on ovals, we’re increasingly confident that you’ll be seeing the No. 97 in the 10-race chase later this year.
Loser: Chris Buescher Pays the Price for Someone Else’s Mess
Chris Buescher has an outstanding track record on road courses and he showed it for most of Sunday’s race with 7 stage points. Unfortunately for the No. 17 car, Kyle Busch getting into it with Jesse Love and shoving his teammate’s car resulted in the No. 30 (Love) getting into Buescher. The No. 17 car spun out and dropped outside the top 25 with 13 laps to go. The only one who really paid the price for Busch’s frustration with Love was Buescher, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He finished the day 24th.
Related: NASCAR O’Reilly Series Results from COTA
Loser: Chase Briscoe Gets Hit With More Bad Luck
In the final stage, Chase Briscoe was in third place about 20 laps it when suddenly only the left tire on the No. 19 car was spinning. Half the field passed him and he was forced to pit early, with the issue causing the car to go behind the wall for repairs. After such a strong showing at Atlanta, it seemed like Briscoe was getting things back on track. Instead, due to issues out of his control, he now has finished outside the top 35 in two of the three points races this season.
Winner: Myatt Snider’s Cup Series Debut
Myatt Snider, age 31, came into Sunday expecting to fulfill his role as a pit spotter for FOX’s NASCAR race coverage. Then, Alex Bowman’s medical issue changed all of that. With the No. 48 car out of competition and Bowman unable to stay in the car any longer, opportunity knocked for Snider. He got to hop behind the wheel of a Cup Series car for Hendrick Motorsports with no stakes, a dream moment. The results don’t matter here, the fact that Snider got to do this is incredible.
