Circuit of The Americas Race Review and Analysis
Taking a trip to the Lonestar state! The Nascar Cup Series visited the Circuit of The Americas located in Austin, Texas for a showdown! This race put on a show as the first road course event is in the books. Ross Chastain in an unbelievable way takes home the checkered flag! This is Chastain’s first career win and first in Trackhouse Racing’s history. Chastain is now locked into the playoffs. The Trackhouse #1 car will join Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron in the playoffs.
(Ross Chastain burning it down post-race)
With 3 laps to go, Ross Chastain, A.J. Allmendinger, and Alex Bowman battled it out. Clashing in the final laps Allmendinger surged ahead of Chastain heading into turn 19. The three made contact as Chastain connected to the back bumper of Allmendinger. Allmendinger and Bowman both received the short end of the stick as they went off course due to Chastain’s aggressive move. Ross Chastain coming out of turn 20 took the checkered flag after an aggressive final two laps. Another overtime finish brought a thriller to close out the race. The second-year organization, Trackhouse Racing owned by Co-owners Justin Marks and celebrity artist Pitbull are now winners as team owners. Trackhouse has shown promising speed all season long, they will now know at least one of their two cars will compete in the playoffs in September.
One huge moment took place with 15 laps to go. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun, breaking the drive shaft in his #47 car. This brought out the caution as getting back to pit road at the Circuit of The Americas is very vigorous. With Nascar being hesitant to throw the caution, this gave drivers the opportunity to pit as fuel became a concern. This eventually threw a wedge in the majority of the team's plans as the race winded down. This decision by Nascar to throw the caution later grew a lot of criticism from fans and teams.
(Ross Chastain holding the checkered flag)
Some more critical moments took place in today’s race. Daniel Suarez, today’s stage 1 winner, had been dominating all day long. Suarez was then shuffled back in the pack leading to him getting turned. When the field headed into the tight turn 1 opening up stage 2, Suarez was spun by Corey LaJoie. This pretty much ruined Suarez's stellar performance all day. Suarez then had a flat left rear tire forcing him to drive all the way around the 3.4-mile circuit back to pit road. Another pivotal moment in today’s race was for Denny Hamlin. Hamlin who has struggled all year long since Daytona collected a stage win today. With an average finish of 24.3, the #11 team has struggled. Today was decent for Hamlin as he was the stage 2 winner.
In my opinion, today was excellent. For the first time this afternoon, we saw great weather while at COTA. Last year was vigorous for all fans, teams, and Nascar officials. Rain was a huge factor during last year’s race. A wild rodeo happened this year even with no rain. Circuit of The Americas has earned its spot on the Nascar circuit and schedule. This race was a classic event and should be on every future Nascar schedule across all series. A well-deserved win for Ross Chastain as he is the 6th driver to win in six different races. I’d rate today’s action a 10 out of 10, COTA(an abbreviation for the Circuit of The Americas) has produced in a positive manner.
(Ross Chastain and the number 1 team post-race)
Notable drivers who’ve had a stellar race are, Ross Chastain, A.J. Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell. Chastain, who is today’s winner, led 31 out of the 69 laps. Trackhouse Racing has shown speed and success, ultimately a team to look out for as this season progresses. A.J. Allmendinger, is a Nascar veteran, who runs full-time in the Xfinity Series. Only competes in the Cup Series on a part-time schedule, mostly filled with road courses. He had an excellent day as he ran in the top five all day long. But, an unfortunate ending for Allmendinger and his #16 squad. Another driver who ran up front today was Chase Elliott, the #9 team looked great throughout today’s race. Tyler Reddick is another young driver who has shown great speed early this year. Reddick has been good along with Ross Chastain and has shown up for his team, Richard Childress Racing. Lastly, Christopher Bell had a quiet day. Bell was up and down through today but was there for the finish. Other guys like Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Martin Truex Jr. also had great runs today.
(Ross Chastain in Victory Lane)
Through these first six weeks, hefty penalties have been handed out to teams. Reported early this week, the biggest penalty this year has been given to Brad Keselowski. The #6 team faced consequences after an illegal modification to a vendor-supplied piece was noticed by Nascar. After reviewing the car at the sport’s R&D Center a major penalty occurred. Keselowski was docked 100 driver points, 10 playoff points, and a four-race suspension has been handed to crew chief Matt McCall. This is all because of Keselowski’s 12th place Atlanta car did not looking right in Nascar’s perspective. This has put the #6 team in a deep hole for the rest of the season. Keselowski fell all the way from 16th in the standings to now 35th. Along with Keselowski, Bubba Wallace’s team may face consequences due to a tire falling off the car during today’s race. Pending Nascar’s decision which is set to come later this week, a four-race suspension to Wallace’s crew chief, jackman, and tire changer may all come. Nascar has put its foot down when it comes to tires falling off the car with this next-gen car. Most of these incidents are stemming from the unfamiliarity of this new car. Tire changers are having to adjust from five lug nuts to now just one. Expect many more penalties this year as these are just the recent ones, pending Nascar’s decision on Wallace’s team.
(Ross Chastain Hoisting up a Watermelon)
(The Cup Series field coming out of turn 1)
As we wrap up from COTA this afternoon, we head to Richmond! Richmond Raceway is up next as Nascar starts its short track stint this season. Located in Richmond, Virginia this 0.75 mile short track puts on quite the show! Chad Kanus, the former crew chief of now retired Nascar legend Jimmie Johnson will join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the FOX broadcast booth. Kanus now serves as the Vice President of Competition at Hendrick Motorsports. Kanus will be in the booth for Richmond and Martinsville for the next two weeks. Practice and qualifying for both the Xfinity and Cup Series will be on Saturday morning. Tune in for the “Toyota Owners 400” Sunday, at 3:30pm only on FOX.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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