Micah Roberts' Top-10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Echopark Texas GP at COTA

The sixth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup season takes us to our first road course event at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, known as COTA, which is America’s home to Formula-1 for the annual USGP. The 20-turn, 3.426-mile layout with an elevation change of 133 feet will get the Cup Series for the third consecutive season. This season's COTA race will have a different feel to it because the inaugural race winner Chase Elliott will be out due to a snowboarding accident in Colorado a few weeks ago. Elliott has been favored to win all the road courses the past few seasons because he wins most of them, or at least has seven wins between them. This race is up for grabs.

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Here’s a look at what I’m thinking this week using odds to win courtesy of Caesars sportsbooks:

1 #45 Tyler Reddick (10/1) - This is where we ask the age-old question: was his last two seasons driving for RCR responsible for his amazing success on the roads, or was it the driver’s skill? We’ll get an answer to that question this week with Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota while Kyle Busch drives his former No. 8 Chevy. Let’s just say it’s 60% driver vs. a great car.

2 #1 Ross Chastain (8/1) - He’d finish seventh in 2021 at both Sonoma and Road America then and then came to COTA knowing he could win and he did for his first career Cup win. He’s got the arrogance needed to win this race.

3 #17 Chris Buescher (25/1) - He was top-10 in his last five road races in 2022, including a runner-up at Sonoma. He’s a must-play in any betting equation this week.

4 #16 A.J. Allmendinger (12/1) - Don’t mind the car number, it’s a road course, and Allmendinger is a candidate to win. He has two Cup wins in limited racing over his career, which is doing the near impossible in NASCAR with driving for an underfunded team.

5 #2 Austin Cindric (15/1) - Road courses are why he’s in NASCAR. This is where he got his chops to get someone from NASCAR to notice him. And then he goes and wins the Daytona 500 last season as a rookie.

6 #19 Martin Truex Jr (30/1) - He hasn’t won a road course race in his last 17 attempts on them with his last win coming at Sonoma in 2019 which starts a five-race run where he won three times in five races.

7 #99 Daniel Suarez (15/1) - He won at Sonoma last season for his first Cup win and then finished fifth at both Road America and Watkins Glen. Same car, same team, and he led 15 laps at COTA last season before settling for 24th.

8 #20 Christopher Bell (15/1) - He probably offers the best odds among all drivers because we’ve seen him win twice on the road courses in just 15 Cup starts.

9 #8 Kyle Busch (8/1) - He’s one of the best on road courses with four wins over his career, 16 top-fives, 25 top-10s, and 404 laps led. And he now drives the RCR car that won twice on roads last summer.

10 #11 Denny Hamlin (30/1) - He’s worked on his road course skills over his career and has one win and 13 top-fives in his 45 road course starts.

Practice 1 Speeds - Reddick Fastest