Martin Truex Jr. a Great Bet to Win at COTA Austin

 

Martin Truex Jr. Circuit of Americas Advance No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36) ● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 26 ● Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas ● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course ● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Truex and the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to the victory.   ● Truex has one top-10 finish in the first two races at Circuit of Americas, as he brought home a seventh-place finish there in 2022.   ● Road Course Ace: Truex has a total of four wins, 12 top-five, and 17 top-finishes at the three permanent road course venues on the Cup Series schedule at Circuit of Americas, Sonoma (Ca.) Raceway, and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Truex has tallied three wins at Sonoma and one at Watkins Glen.   ● Ahead at this Stage: Truex leads the NASCAR Cup Series with 56 stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, as well. While Truex came close to winning a stage at the season-opening Daytona 500, he does not have a stage win so far this year. Last weekend at Las Vegas, Truex finished sixth and fourth, respectively, in the opening two stages and collected valuable points that could prove important at the end of the regular season.   ● With his 19th-place finish at Atlanta last weekend, Truex heads to the Circuit of Americas eighth in the standings with 145 points, 32 out of the lead

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD

What are your thoughts headed to Austin this weekend based on what you had there last year and what you’ve learned about this car, particularly on road courses?   “COTA is a place that’s pretty fun for us. But last year we just never got the car where we needed it. I was definitely worried after practice – I was not feeling too good. Your hands are so tied to these things with these short practices, so having some time to make bigger changes after practice will be helpful. I’m looking forward to the extra track time on Friday and get a chance to work on it overnight and see what we have for Saturday and Sunday. We’ve learned so much over the last year about this car and what it likes and what it doesn’t, so hoping we can come with a lot more knowledge than we had this time last year and get the car where we need it to have a shot to win and run up front all day long. Looking forward this this weekend with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota team.”   What type of track causes the most chaos in the Cup Series these days?   “The obvious answer to most is the superspeedways and how things happen and how it can take out a lot of cars quickly. However, road course restarts have become the next craziest part of what we do. Looking back at last year, we crashed on one of the restarts with guys going five and six wide and guys make up eight to 10 spots in one corner. I think that’s the biggest change in our sport the last few years.”   They are putting in the choose rule on restarts at the road course starting this year, with COTA being the first race under the new rule. What are your thoughts on adding it to the road courses?   “I don’t think it’s a huge deal anywhere we go, other than tracks that are one lane dominant like a Michigan or a place like that, unless you are in the front two or three rows and that’s where it makes the most difference and that’s probably what will happen on road courses as well and what I would expect this weekend at COTA.”

Kevin Harvick is 40/1 to win at COTA

 

KEVIN HARVICK COTA Advance No. 4 GEARWRENCH® Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

●  Event:  EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36) ●  Time/Date:  3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27 ●  Location:  Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas ●  Layout:  3.426-mile, 20-turn road course ●  Laps/Miles:  68 laps/231.88 miles ●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps ●  TV/Radio:  FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  GEARWRENCH®, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, makes its debut as a primary partner on the No. 4 Ford Mustang of Stewart-Haas Racing and driver Kevin Harvick this weekend at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. GEARWRENCH is the No. 1 worldwide professional-grade mechanics’ hand tool brand, offering products that are designed and manufactured to meet the requirements of pros, mechanics and auto techs making a living with their tools. GEARWRENCH understands the problems mechanics face every day and provides tools that increase productivity through speed, strength and access. Since the launch of the original five-degree ratcheting wrench, the GEARWRENCH brand has led the industry with breakthroughs in pass-thru ratchets, sockets, screw/nut drivers, pliers, extraction tools and specialty tools. Learn more at GEARWRENCH.com.   ●  Featured on the decklid of Harvick’s No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang during the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA is Bolt Biter™, a line of extraction tools from GEARWRENCH that has quickly become a major force in the extraction tool category through its innovative design and unmatched durability. Bolt Biter reliably removes corroded, rusted, rounded and frozen fasteners, keeping fastener extraction problems from slowing pros, mechanics and auto techs down. The line includes unique products specific to removing a wide range of fasteners including sockets, standard nuts, lugnuts, screws and more. For full details, visit GEARWRENCH.com/extraction-tools.   ●  This weekend marks NASCAR’s second appearance at COTA. The 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course was constructed in 2011 and has been America’s home to Formula One since the global motorsports series returned to America with the 2012 United States Grand Prix. The United States Grand Prix dates back to 1950 when the Indianapolis 500 counted as a round of the world championship. Eleven times from 1950 to 1960, points scored at Indy were added to a Formula One driver’s season tally, and in 1959 America hosted two Formula One races when in addition to Indianapolis, the United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway. It served as the ninth and final round of the 1959 season. In 1960, Formula One moved to Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway before finally settling down for a 20-year tenure at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International from 1961 to 1980. From 1976 to 1980, Watkins Glen was joined by Long Beach, California, on the Formula One schedule, with the United States Grand Prix West taking place until 1983. After Watkins Glen fell off the calendar, Las Vegas took its place for two seasons (1981-1982) with the Caesars Palace Grand Prix being held on its hotel parking lot. In 1982, America hosted three Formula One races when in addition to Long Beach and Las Vegas, Detroit was added to the schedule. Detroit hosted Formula One on a bumpy street circuit for seven years, with its last grand prix coming in 1988. Dallas made a one-race appearance in 1984 when Fair Park was converted to a Formula One circuit for the Dallas Grand Prix. Phoenix was next up for Formula One from 1989 to 1991 before a nine-year absence of the sport from America’s shores. But then Indianapolis Motor Speedway built a road course within the confines of the historic 2.5-mile oval and Formula One returned with the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis from 2000 to 2007. Sadly, Formula One in America fell off the calendar again. It wasn’t until COTA was constructed, becoming the first purpose-built Formula One facility in the United States, that Formula One was able to return to America.   ●  Contrast best describes a lap around COTA. High speed and rapid changes of direction comprise the layout between turns two and 10, with this first sector akin to the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel complex at the famed Silverstone Circuit in England. The end of the lap from turn 12 through turn 20 before hitting the frontstretch features low-speed combinations. The long backstraight, however, is where drivers want to retain as much speed as possible to either attack or defend through the tight turn 12. This corner, along with the uphill run to turn one and the hairpin in turn 11, provide good passing opportunities.   ●  Harvick has made a total of 49 NASCAR Cup Series starts on road courses. He has 20 starts at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, 20 at Watkins Glen, four at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, two on the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, and one apiece at COTA, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He has scored two wins – Watkins Glen in 2006 and Sonoma in 2017 – along with 10 top-fives and 24 top-10s with 195 laps led.   ●  Harvick has two starts at COTA – one in the NASCAR Cup Series and one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – and both came last year in NASCAR’s inaugural visit to the track. Harvick finished a strong fourth in the Xfinity Series race before suffering a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the Cup Series race due to an accident 19 laps into the 54-lap race, which was shortened 14 laps from its scheduled 68-lap distance due to heavy rain.   ●  When Harvick scored his first road-course victory at Watkins Glen in 2006, he had to beat his current team owner to do it. Tony Stewart – the “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas Racing – had won the past two NASCAR Cup Series races at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course and was poised to capture a third straight win as he was leading Harvick with four laps to go in the 90-lap race. But Harvick, who had already led once for 24 laps, passed Stewart on lap 87 as the two drag-raced down the frontstretch and into turn one. Harvick held onto the lead despite Stewart in his rearview mirror, earning a margin of victory of .892 of a second.   ●  Harvick’s second career road-course win also had a connection to Stewart. When Harvick won at Sonoma in 2017, he gave Stewart-Haas Racing its second straight victory at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course. The winner in 2016? None other than Stewart. It ended up being his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory as Stewart retired from NASCAR racing at the conclusion of the season.   ●  Harvick’s last road-course win was his first in a Ford. When Harvick won at Sonoma in 2017, he became the 83rd different driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race behind the wheel of a Ford. Harvick has now won 23 Cup Series races with Ford, which makes him one of only 13 drivers to win 20 or more races with the manufacturer. He is currently tied with Rusty Wallace and Carl Edwards for 11th on the all-time Ford win list.   ●  Harvick has four road-course wins outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. Two came in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007 and Watkins Glen in 2007 – and two were in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West – Sonoma in 1998 and Sonoma in 2017. Harvick’s K&N Series win at Sonoma in 1998 was three years before his Cup Series debut on Feb. 26, 2001 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang

Last year’s race at COTA was your first at the track. How did you prepare to race on a track you had never been to before? “My big thing is just memorizing what’s next on the racetrack. You’re never going to get a good feel for the elevation, but I think the Ford simulator gives the best sense of how our GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang will perform at COTA. You’re able to sit in your own seat and have your own steering wheel and you’re just in a more realistic surrounding. In iRacing, I spent a lot of time in the V8 Supercar just making laps and trying to make sure I knew the direction of the corners before I got to the simulator so I understood what I was getting into.”   When it comes to road-course racing, do you feel that more of the race is in your hands? “You do have more in your hands, for sure, especially when it comes to shifting and all the different things that could happen. But strategy and track position are a big part of that element too. It’s just like anything else, you’ve got to have the whole piece of the puzzle to put it all together.”   There are now six road-course races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule compared to just two a few years ago. Do you feel that’s good for the sport? “I think the additions of all of these road courses has been great for the sport. Road racing is the way to expand the sport because there are so many great road courses around the world.”   How do you approach these road-course weekends? “There’s just a lot more time that goes into a road-race week. You have to spend a lot of time in the simulator. You have to spend a lot of time with your previous notes and make sure you have the shift points and all the things that you remember as far as curbs you need to hit and things you don’t need to hit, where you need to be on the racetrack, tire falloff. You have to have everything memorized before you get there so that the first few laps are valuable because you’re still going to be learning the real-life tolerances of the grip level. And you’re going to have to blend that into also trying to do it in a short amount of time and get something out of those practices to give some feedback about the cars. It’s a different preparation week for the road courses than it is anything else.”   Has the diversity of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, combined with the NextGen car, made NASCAR the most prominent motorsports property in the United States? “I think it’s the most relevant motorsport in our country, and I think this year is a huge reminder of that just in the relevance of the way that the car looks to the street car. You can look at everything that’s involved, and you see the sponsors and the big shops and everything that goes with that, but for the most part I would tell you that the drivers and the crew members are very blue collar, very relevant to the common person in our country. So I think that seeing normal people doing pretty exciting things and being able to do what we do, people can relate to the drivers and the team members because they all came from somewhere that was pretty normal. I think it’s just very relatable from being able to watch it on TV or go to the racetrack, and it’s been here for more than 70 years. It’s just become a generational thing because of families watching. In the end, I think the competitors are very relatable to the common person.”   NASCAR is filled with racers – people who are working at the pinnacle of the sport after starting at the grassroots level. Does it takes a racer’s mentality to make it to this level and then stay there? “NASCAR is the pinnacle of motorsports in our country, just because of the fact that whether you raced at a local short track, worked on a car, drove a car, your goal was to wind up in NASCAR and be at the top level at some particular point. We see people come from all forms of racing and try to be a part of it. It’s just where everybody wants to be. No matter how you get here, where you came from or what you worked on or drove, NASCAR is really the top level of racing in our country.”   COTA is a race weekend that features all three of NASCAR’s top national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck. How important is it for the drivers in the Xfinity and Truck Series to be racing on the same weekend at the same track where the Cup Series is racing? “It’s important to have these training grounds at the same facilities, with a lot of the same officials, and to be able to see what’s happening during practice and how teams function. It all happens at such a young age for a lot of the drivers who come up, now. You have to be able to see the professionalism of what’s happening and how it functions, the marketing side of what happens. There’s a lot more to it than just jumping into the racecar. And you see the huge production of the race weekends, and coming to your first Truck race, and coming on a Truck weekend and being able to see the facilities that you get to race in, it’s an eye-opening experience. But you have to have somewhere that you can do that. The good news is, in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series, you can see all that, and there are a lot of things you can check off the list in the Xfinity and Truck Series before you get to Cup.”

Chase Briscoe is 20/1 to win at COTA

 

CHASE BRISCOE COTA Advance No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36) ● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27 ● Location: Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas ● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course ● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, for the sixth stop on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The 27-year-old driver is fresh off a frustrating 15th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Briscoe started on the pole and led five of the first six laps of the race before getting hung out of the pack and falling toward the back of the field. The No. 14 team worked its way back into the top-five before Briscoe and Ford Performance teammate Ryan Blaney got loose while making a run for the lead and made contact with the outside wall on the final lap.   ● With five races complete, Briscoe currently holds a spot in the 16-driver playoff field by virtue of his win two weekends ago at Phoenix Raceway. He has two top-five finishes and sits third in points, 15 behind leader Chase Elliott.   ● In last year’s inaugural event at COTA, Briscoe earned his first Cup Series top-10, finishing sixth after starting 27th. He went on to earn two additional top-10s, both coming at road course events – sixth at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and ninth at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. When the Cup Series took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August, Briscoe qualified second and led 12 laps, nearly earning his first Cup Series victory before going off track with two laps to go and incurring a penalty that ended his bid.   ● In addition to his top-10 performances in the Cup Series, two of Briscoe’s biggest wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came on road courses. His first win, earned on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval in 2018, has been credited as the win that saved his career. In 2020, when the Xfinity Series debuted its stock cars on the Indianapolis road course, Briscoe led a race-high 30 of 62 laps to capture a dominating win in front of his hometown crowd.   ● This Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix serves as a home race for Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America. Part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, Mahindra Ag North America is the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners, and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort at a great value. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How are things behind the scenes with your new sponsors?  “It’s been really cool. I’ve been super fortunate my entire career. I’ve had really good relationships with all of the sponsors I’ve had and they are all incredible people. We’ve been able to build a lot of really cool things, but Mahindra Tractors is different in that it’s really the first time I’ve been aligned, with the exception of maybe one or two times, with an actual consumer brand. You look at HighPoint.com, for example, it’s not as much of a consumer play. It’s more of a B2B thing, whereas Mahindra is trying to sell tractors to fans and that’s something that I haven’t really had at the higher levels of NASCAR. It’s been cool to see the approach and what they’re trying to do to correlate that over to tractor sales, and it’s been a lot of fun. Anytime you can bring a new partner into the sport, it’s special, and to be able to do it in a way that we’ve been able to do it and make a big splash, it’s all because of them. They are obviously investing a lot, not only with the race team but with our broadcast partners and things like that. Not only are they seeing the success in all of this, but it’s also helping my brand to let people see my personality in these commercials and some of the other things we’re working on. We’re not done, yet. It’s just been a lot of fun for me to see how enthusiastic they are about this race team and it’s been a lot of fun.”   What are your thoughts about COTA based on last year’s race? “From the racetrack standpoint, I feel like I’m kind of going there for the first time, just because last year I don’t think I ever ran a single lap in the dry. I think we practiced, qualified, everything in the wet, so it’s going to be like learning a whole new racetrack this week. I know from a facility standpoint it’s pretty remarkable. It’s super cool to go out there. Even last year in the rain, there were a ton of fans out there, so I’m excited to see what it looks like this year. I didn’t get to do a ton of exploring in the city last year, but I know Austin is a really cool town. I’m going to try to do a little bit more this year while we’re there, just because we’re there a little bit longer than usual. I’m super excited to get back. I’m really excited, truthfully, just to get this Next Gen car on a road course. Based on some of the testing we did on the (Charlotte) Roval, they’re a blast to run on the road course. I’m curious to see what the racing will be like. I think it will definitely change the landscape of these road-course races. I think you’re going to see a lot more guys that are competitive than in years past because you can drive this car so much harder. It does a lot of things a lot better than the old car, so it’ll be interesting to see how that works out and plays out. It looks like the weather is going to be really good and it should be a great show.”   What can we expect this weekend on a dry track, in comparison? “I think it’ll definitely be different than what we saw last year. I mean, last year’s race will look way different than this year’s race with the weather. It was a different style of racing when it was that wet, but from a driver’s standpoint it’s a lot of fun, just the visibility is obviously tough. And then, from a fan’s standpoint, it’s tough to see what’s going on and a little more miserable than if it was a really nice day. I think this car on the road courses is where it’s really going to shine and, truthfully, on the oval stuff, it’s been a lot better than what people expected. I think the road course is probably going to blow it out of the park. It’s a really well-built racecar, especially for road-course racing. It’s going to be interesting to see with 40 of us out there going for it versus just a test session where only a couple of guys are on track, but I think COTA is a really good racetrack to unveil this thing on a road course and I’ve been really excited to get there, so I’m looking forward to it.”   You’ve had a chance to work with Joey Hand in preparation for the road-course races on the schedule. How has he helped you with your road-course development? “It’s been huge. Joey is obviously an extremely good road-course racer. He has a little bit of a dirt background, so he can kind of relate to what I go through, but it’s been huge. Anytime you can have somebody come from a different discipline and different style driving cars and give input, it’s huge. We’ve seen that with other manufacturers kind of doing the same thing and, for me, I like criticism. I like people telling me what I’m doing wrong, and he literally just gave me a whole sheet of different things I could try. And I think the good thing about being at the simulator and having Joey there is just the fact that you can run laps, he can see it and come out and say, ‘Hey, try this, this and this,’ and you can apply it. You don’t have to wait until the weekend to try things. I know last year I was definitely able to find speed in places that he was telling me to try based on what we did in the simulator. Now we have to race against him. I’ve been telling him that I think he’s going to be really, really good this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see how those guys run. This thing, in a sense, is a lot like a sportscar, which is what he’s used to, so I’m excited to see him run this weekend and think he’ll be one of the guys to beat.”

Aric Almirola is 150/1 to win at COTA

 

ARIC ALMIROLA COTA Advance No. 10 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36) ● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27 ● Location: Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas  ● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course ● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  Aric Almirola is the only driver in the NASCAR Cup Series who has finished on the lead lap in every race this season.   ●  Almirola’s average finish of 10.2 through the first five races places him second among all drivers this season. It’s his best average finish through five races in 10 fulltime Cup Series seasons.   ●  Almirola is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to finish in the top-10 in this year’s opening three races. He finished fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, sixth at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Almirola’s top-10 streak ended with a 12th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway despite running inside the top-10 throughout the race.   ●  Last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Almirola led six laps and ran up front until he was spun from the front row with 18 laps to go, which caused a mechanical issue and relegated him to a 22nd-place finish.   ●  Points: Almirola arrives at COTA seventh in the driver standings with 144 points, 27 out of first.   ●  Last year at COTA, severe rain forced the field to race on rain tires early in Stage 1. Almirola ran as high as 10th before the inclement weather cut the race short with Almirola running 20th.   ●  Almirola’s career: In 393 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has earned three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 87 top-10s, three poles, and has led 899 laps.   ●  One More Time: On Jan. 10,Almirola released a video on his YouTube channel announcing his retirement from fulltime NASCAR Cup Series racing after the 2022 season to spend more time with his family. This year marks Almirola’s 11th fulltime Cup Series season. The official press release can be viewed here.   ●  Rush Truck Centers will serve as the “Alpha” sponsor of the No. 10 Ford Mustang this weekend at COTA. All of the SHR cars travel from race to race in haulers from Rush Truck Centers, the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry. And those haulers are supported by the RushCare team of parts and service experts, who also provide concierge-level service and maintenance, technical support, schedule mobile service, dispatch roadside assistance, help locate the nearest dealer, and more. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in the United States with 139 locations, and takes pride in its integrated approach to customer needs – from vehicle sales to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental, as well as alternate fuel systems and other vehicle technologies.   ●  Rush Truck Centers is also a leader in all-makes parts for the commercial vehicle industry and recently issued its third All-Makes Parts Catalog. The catalog features 16,000 parts from more than 125 manufacturers, the most common parts needed for commercial vehicles. No matter what brand of truck you drive, you’ll find what you need in this catalog. It also is filled with product and technical tips to help keep you up and running. Contact your local Rush Truck Centers location for a copy.   ●  Mobil Delvac 1 joins Rush Truck Centers as the co-primary sponsor of the No. 10 Ford Mustang at COTA. Mobil Delvac 1 heavy-duty diesel engine oils are designed to help commercial fleets save money and boost uptime through fuel economy savings, extending the life of engines, and lengthening oil drain intervals. In 2020, the SHR haulers moved from three oil changes per season to a single oil change by using Mobil Delvac 1 diesel engine oil.   ●  Beyond the 10 YouTube Series:In 2022, Almirola is once again sharing his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How do you think the NextGen car will perform at COTA, and will it suit you better?    “Well, this car is absolutely designed more for a road-course race type situation. It’s a more symmetrical car. Our cars used to be offset, and they were more designed to go just left-hand only, so it was more of a big deal to swap over to go road racing. Now, these cars are more symmetrical. So because of that, it is more specifically designed to go left and right, which suits it very well for road racing. The car is a very capable car. It handles well, it brakes very well. It’s got much bigger brakes than what we used to have on the old car, so it stops way better and the brake zones are way more compressed. It is a little bit more thrilling of a car to drive on the road courses.”    Do you enjoy road racing, and how do you continue to hone your craft?    “I have enjoyed road racing and I’ve strived to get better at it. Road racing is not something I grew up doing. I grew up racing go-karts on dirt ovals and then I went to stock car racing on asphalt ovals. I never did any road racing at all until I actually got to NASCAR. That was when I got introduced to road racing and I had a steep learning curve to catch up. I have really enjoyed honing my craft at road racing and trying to figure out how to get better. Having Ford Performance as our partner is so key to improving us on road courses, as well. I’m going to spend about four hours this week sitting in the simulator, logging laps at COTA to get as much practice as possible. That’s really our only chance to practice, so I’m going to put full focus on it this week and hope it pays off.”

Kyle Busch is 10/1 to win at COTA

 

KYLE BUSCH 'Back' to COTA   HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (March 22, 2022) – As the NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Austin, Texas, this week to race on the 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course at Circuit of Americas (COTA), Kyle Busch is hoping a strong successful first trip there last season will bear “fruit,” in more ways than one.   Busch, driver of the No. 18 Skittles “Lime is Back” Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), returns to COTA for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix after a strong debut there last season. While the final race results showed Busch finished in the 10th spot there last spring, the Las Vegas native led 12 laps and won a stage before pit strategy had them fall down the running order in the race that was shortened by 14 laps due to heavy rain.   This weekend, Busch looks to take the Skittles colors back to COTA’s victory lane for the second year in a row. He drove the No. 54 Skittles Gummies Camry to the win in last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track, which has hosted numerous other racing series since it opened in 2012, including the annual stop for Formula One in America, IndyCar, Moto GP, IMSA and Trans Am sportscars, and many others.   Busch as shown a propensity for road-course racing during his Cup Series career, and with six road-course circuits on the schedule this year, he may have a chance to move himself up on the list of NASCAR road-course race winners. If Busch could win this weekend, he could also join some elite company as a road-racing ace in NASCAR’s top series. The Skittles “Lime is Back” driver’s four road-course wins tie him with NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson and Mark Martin on the all-time Cup Series road-course wins list. That’s some pretty good company, already. But with a fifth road-course win, Busch could tie Darrell Waltrip, Tim Richmond, Dan Gurney on the list. There is a bit of distance to the top two spots on the all-time road-course wins list when it comes to catching Chase Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who have seven, eight and nine career road-course wins, respectively.   Road-course racing has taken on even more importance in the Cup Series the past couple of seasons with the addition of COTA, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to join the traditional stops at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. With the added road-course races, it’s more important than ever to have a strong driver and team that can turn left and right this season and beyond.   With the Skittles brand back on board Busch’s No. 18 Toyota Camry TRD this weekend, the brand will use the opportunity to highlight the return of its Lime flavor after an eight-year hiatus due to fan demand. Race fans can grab packs of Skittles featuring the recently reinstated Lime at retailers across the country to enjoy during this weekend’s race deep in the heart of Texas.   So, as Busch and his Skittles “Lime is Back” team head down to the capital city of Texas, they know they’ll have a challenge ahead of them at COTA, and Busch will hope to bring his racecar back to victory lane with a Cup Series win that would be the 60th of his career.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Skittles Lime is Back Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

Are you looking forward to going back to COTA and continuing to see some of the excitement you saw last year?   “They had a little bit of history there with Formula One, IndyCar and other racing series, but obviously the first time for NASCAR Cup Series cars there last year. There are a lot of flat turns on that circuit and a little bit of elevation change, which make for some interesting moments. We have a whole new car, now, so it will be an even bigger challenge. We’ll have some simulator time, too, so hopefully we can be on top of things when we arrive there this weekend. We won the Xfinity race there last year and, in the Cup race, we were competitive and just got bit by trying to pit and we never went back racing with the rain coming down too hard. Looking forward to getting back to COTA with our Skittles “Lime is Back” Camry TRD and see how things play out. Cool scheme this weekend. Everyone has been asking about bringing Lime back after eight years and they’ve been able to do it, and we get a good-looking car out of it. Looking forward to it.   Is road-course racing something that comes naturally to you, or is it something you had to work on?   “It’s definitely something you have to work on. With rule changes and tire changes and now a new car, it’s something you work on every year. There’s always change that you have to work on to be competitive. When I was a kid back in Las Vegas in Legends cars, that’s where I was able to learn about shifting and turning left and turning right. I had the natural instincts for it and won a couple of championships in the winter series we had out there. We actually went out to Sonoma back then and ran the national championship races two years in a row and finished third both times, so I had a little bit of experience on road courses as I came up through the ranks.”   You are running both the Cup Series and Truck Series races this weekend. Are doubleheaders fun for you?   “I feel like preparing for a doubleheader is pretty easy. I’ve always been used to running in two or three races in a weekend, running the Truck, Xfinity, Cup, whatever it may be. I like that, so I think it gives us an opportunity to get out there and get our feet wet in the Truck Series, and get a feel for the tire and the new car and really think about what you can learn. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it will be nice to have some extra track time to work on my car and get some experience and also have just a little bit more knowledge of what it’s like beyond what we do in our SIM and other ways we prepare for races and the limited practice time we will have.”

Event Overview:

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36) ● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27 ● Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas ● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course ● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

COTA NASCAR Betting Preview: 2021 Echopark Texas Grand Prix

 

NASCAR ECHOPARK TEXAS GRAND PRIX ANALYSIS

The 14th race of the NASCAR Cup Series season takes us to Austin, Texas for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the first time ever. It’s kind of a big deal and I’m intrigued about the 20-turn 3.426-mile layout.

“They’ve had a little bit of history there with Formula One, IndyCar, and other racing series there, but obviously the first time for NASCAR Cup Series cars there this weekend,” said Kyle Busch who is 14-to-1 to win Sunday at William Hill sportsbooks.

Formula-1 and IndyCar have sleek streamlined designs on light frames and weigh half the amount of NASCAR’s big bulky frames. It’s going to be one heck of a challenge for all the drivers learning a new track with 20 turns.

“There are a lot of flat turns on that circuit and a little bit of elevation change, which could make for some interesting moments,” Busch said. “Our big heavy stock cars with not a lot of downforce running around that road course is going to take a lot. We’ll see how it goes. There’s some experience like that with the NASCAR Xfinity Series guys running Road America, with its long road course, as well. Some of the young guys in our series who have run at Road America will have a little bit of an advantage there, and also when we go to Road America in the summer.

ECHOPARK TEXAS GRAND PRIX BETTING RESOURCES

• Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021
• TV-Time: FS1, 2:00 p.m. ET
• Venue: Circuit of the Americas
• Location: Austin, Texas
• Distance: 231 miles, 68 laps

Three of the best road racers in the Cup Series took a Goodyear tire test on March 2 to help determine what tire would be used for this weekend. Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., and Brad Keselowski all took part in the test session and learned the track as much as they possibly could in such a short amount of time, but others have been on the track as well through other ways.

“I was able to visit a couple of times in April, it was even in the same week,” Busch said. “We went there for a Toyota media event and announcement and then I was back there in another type of car just trying to learn the circuit and what it takes to get around there. We’ve also had plenty of simulator time, too, so hopefully, we can be on top of things when we arrive there this weekend.”

In addition to his recent visits, Busch will have an advantage on Sunday from not only getting practice laps on Friday and qualifying on Saturday but also running the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. Cup regulars Kevin Harvick, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick, and Austin Dillon will also participate in the Xfinity Series race Saturday.

As for Busch, he has four road course wins and also won the Busch Clash road race to kick off Daytona speedweeks. He’s with JGR and got one of those fast Toyotas every week.

It’s within those fast Gibbs Toyotas and Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets that I am considering the most this week. It’s the 750 HP package that was used last week at Dover that led to a 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick. It was Bowman winning his second race in three races using it. Truex has three wins using it and Christopher Bell won with it in the Daytona road race following the Daytona 500.

That’s six winners in seven races using it between three drivers and two teams.

ECHOPARK TEXAS GRAND PRIX CONTENDERS

• Chase Elliott +240
• Martin Truex Jr. +450
• Denny Hamlin +900
• Kyle Busch +1300
• Ryan Blaney +1400
• Kyle Larson +1400
• More NASCAR Futures
• (Odds Subject to Change)

Denny Hamlin hasn’t won yet in 2021 after seven wins last season, but he’s been seventh or better in all seven races (six top-fives) using the 750 HP package. He also finished third at the Daytona road course, has a 2016 Watkins Glen win and 10 top-fives among his road racing resume. He’s going to be swimming in new waters this week.

“I’ve never raced there, so there are a lot of unknowns,” said Hamlin who is 10-to-1 to win Sunday. “But it’s a first-class facility, and it’s in a great market. It checks all the boxes for a new venue.

“Road courses are tricky, and this one specifically I’ve never raced on,” he continued. “I know our team is going to bring a fast car again this week. From there, it’s all about execution and making the least amount of mistakes.”

The favorite among the Gibbs drivers is four-time road course winner Truex Jr. at 7-to-2 odds. His first road win was Sonoma in 2013 then it was Watkins Glen in 2017, Sonoma in 2018 and 2019. He is one of the best, but Elliott has been just a notch better recently. Truex was 12th in the Daytona road race.

Elliott is the 8-to-5 favorite this week mostly due to his 9.8 average finish in 13 Cup road course races is the best among all actives, as are his five wins. When he led a race-high 44 laps in the February Daytona road race but finished 21st, it was a shock because he had won the previous four road races over a two-year period. He’s led laps in the last six road races. But 8-to-5 odds just don’t get me excited. I need more. I need better odds on someone capable of winning or on someone like Elliott who hasn’t won after 13 races.

HANDICAPPING NASCAR AT AUSTIN

That’s where Elliott’s Hendrick teammates come in, more specifically Bowman and William Byron who have shown gains and benefitted from sharing equipment and set-up notes with Elliott.

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