The Cup Series drivers come to Circuit of the Americas for the first of six road course races this season.  Along with the regular field of drivers, Formula One drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button; along with IMSA champion Jordan Taylor, and Seven time champion Jimmie Johnson will be in the field.  Just short of the 40 car limit, all of the drivers will make the field for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

The first road course of the season also brings some new rules. 

COTA was originally designed for the international racing series Formula One; this week, there will be an international lineup in the Cup and Xfinity Series.  In the Xfinity Series, Canadian Alex Labbe is sitting in for suspended driver Josh Williams.   And in the Cup Series joining Mexican born driver Daniel Suarez is Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, and England’s Jenson Button.

NASCAR has eliminated the stage break cautions.  Once a stage break comes, the track will stay green unless of debris or a crash.  In road racing, many drivers short pit the end of the stage and come down pit road before the end of the stage.  The top 10 drivers will still receive stage points.  This marks the first time that there will be no caution flag at the end of a stage since stage racing began in 2017.

After experimenting with a 50 percent larger restart zone, NASCAR has reverted back to the original restart zone beginning with COTA.

For the first time in road course racing, the drivers will have the “choose rule”.

Goodyear has brought the same tires as the teams used last year with different codes for the left front and right rear and a different code for the right front and left rear.

In regards to loose or lost wheels; if the tire is lost while on pit road the driver will have to make a driver through penalty under green flag conditions or a restart at the back of the field if the infraction occurs under the caution flag; however, if the tire comes off on the tire is lost other than on pit road, the new rules dictate a two lap penalty plus two crew members will be suspended for the next two weeks (down from four last year).  The rule is Series specific; for example, if a driver has a tire infraction in the Xfinity Series, it will not carry over to the Cup Series.

NASCAR has told the drivers that they must have two tires on the rumble strips when turning the corners in the S’s.

Chevrolet had a four race win streak broken last week when Joey Logano took his Ford to victory lane; but at COTA, Chevrolet has won eleven of the past 12 races.

Still recovering from his broken leg, Chase Elliott will be joining the FOX broadcast crew remotely for the race to offer his opinions and insights on events.

Tyler Reddick led the practice session with Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Kurt Busch and Guenther Steiner from F1 join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the FOX broadcast booth for qualifying and the race.

When AJ Allmendinger takes the green flag at COTA, he will be making Cup start number 400.

The field has been divided into two groups and have 15 minutes to make their best qualifying run.  The top five drivers from each group will move on to round two to qualify for the pole.

Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney have already run into the gravel making turns.

With a time of 131.746 seconds, William Byron has set a new track record and is currently in first place in Group A.

With a time of 131.268, Erik Jones set a new track record and put his number 43 car at the top of the board.

Erik Jones, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson, and AJ Allmendinger will move on to round two of qualifying. 

Michael McDowell had too much speed going into a turn 19 and got into the tire wall but his car is undamaged.

Austin Cindric is leading Group B with a time of 131.215 seconds. 

Sitting in for Chase Elliott, Jordan Taylor put the number nine car in the top five just over half a second behind Austin Cindric.

Tyler Reddick just set a new track record with a time of 130.305 seconds.

In Group B Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, Jordan Taylor, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Busch will move on to round two of qualifying.

Harrison Burton short cut the S’s and has had his time disallowed.

Last week in Atlanta, the Fords dominated the top 10, this week at COTA the Chevrolets dominate the top 10 with eight.

Daniel Suarez was charged with short cutting the S’s and Alex Bowman short cut turn three.  Both drivers have had their times disallowed.

With a time 130.760, William Byron puts his number 24 Hendrick Motorsports car on the pole with Tyler Reddick starting alongside on the front row.  Byron is now the first driver to make the pole on four different road course races.

The lineup for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix:
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Austin Cindric
Jordan Taylor
Daniel Suarez
AJ Allmendinger
Erik Jones
Kyle Busch
Noah Gragson
Alex Bowman
Bubba Wallace
Ross Chastain
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Harrison Burton
Ty Gibbs
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chase Briscoe
Michael McDowell
Denny Hamlin
Kimi Raikkonen
Justin Haley
Jenson Button
Martin Truex Jr
Ryan Preece
Corey LaJoie
Austin Dillon
Kevin Harvick
Brad Keselowski
Jimmie Johnson
Chris Buescher
Josh Bilicki
Ty Dillon
Conor Daly
Todd Gilliland
Cody Ware
Ryan Blaney
Aric Almirola

Stages one and two of the race are 15 laps each with stage three lasting 38 laps for a total of 68 laps around the 3.4 miles road course.  The drivers can run around 23 laps on a single load of fuel but tire wear is the biggest issue for the teams.

Jordan Taylor is having some radio issues.

Michael McDowell will start the race from the back of the field after the crew made some unapproved adjustments to the car.

William Byron brings the 39 car field down for the green flag start of the race on a warm Sunday afternoon from the inside lane and jumps out in front for the lead as the drivers get four and five wide going into turn one.

Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick battle for second with William Byron in the lead.

Lap two William Byron leads the race.  Jimmie Johnson comes down pit road with a flat tire after some on track contact.  Brad Keselowski spins out after some on track contact and brings out the first caution flag of the race.

Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon make contact; causing significant damage to Dillon’s car.  Johnson’s crew also has some damage and is on pit road for repairs.  Buescher is out of the race.

Chase Elliott joins the broadcast via zoom. 

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart from the inside lane with Tyler Reddick on the outside on lap six.  The drivers quickly spread out five and six across the track going into turn one.  Austin Cindric comes from third place to take the lead.

Lap six, the top five are Austin Cindric, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and AJ Allmendinger.

Ty Dillon and Jimmie Johnson are out of the race.

Chase Briscoe gets turned around on the track after some contact but the track stays green.

Jordan Taylor locks up the brakes but gets going again.

Tyler Reddick passes William Byron for second.

Joey Logano is charged with shortcutting the course and will have to serve a drive through penalty.  Drivers may fun on the red and white rumble strips but the blue painted area beyond is a no-go area and subject to penalty.

Lap eight, Tyler Reddick passes Austin Cindric for the lead; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and AJ Almendinger round out the top five.

Austin Cindric comes up to battle for the lead.

Denny Hamin and Corey LaJoie were charged with shortcutting the course and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Lap 10, Tyler Reddick leads the race with William Byron in second.  Michael McDowell is charged with shortcutting the course and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

The top five are Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, and Daniel Suarez.

Of the four star drivers who have entered the race, Jimmie Johnson is already out of the race; Jordan Taylor is the highest ranking driver in 13th.

Bubba Wallace gets into Kyle Larson; spinning Larson out.  Wallace never slowed down as if the brakes were gone.

The caution flag comes out after Kyle Larson gets stopped on the track after being spun out by Denny Hamlin and makes contact with Bubba Wallace.

Cody Ware spins out.

Some of the drivers take advantage of the caution flag and come down pit road for service including leader Tyler Reddick.

Corey LaJoie was caught speeding on pit road.

Kyle Larson was trying to come to pit road when Denny Hamlin made contact with Larson.

Bubba Wallace is out of the race with race damage.  After being checked and cleared from the infield care center, Bubba Wallace spoke on his making “rookie” mistakes after six years in NASCAR; adding that he needs to be replaced.

Kyle Larson is on the “crash clock”.

AJ Allmendinger has radio issues and cannot communicate with the crew.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart to end stage one.  William Byron wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one are:
William Byron
Austin Cindric
AJ Allmendinger
Alex Bowman
Ross Chastain
Daniel Suarez
Kyle Busch
Jordan Taylor
Christopher Bell
Ryan Preece

Lap 17, William Byron leads the race with Austin Cindric in second; AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

Bubba Wallace said that the toe link was off and the oil line broke.

Lap 18, after making a pit stop during the caution flag, Tyler Reddick has worked his way back up to 18th place.

William Byron has a half second lead on Austin Cindric.

Brad Keselowski gets turned around after some contact from Ryan Blaney but gets the car moving again and the track stays green.

Ryan Blaney gets off the course after contact from Kyle Larson and has to come down pit road for tires.

Lap 20, William Byron leads the race with Austin Cindric in second; AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.  Tyler Reddick is just outside the top 10 in twelfth.

Kyle Busch comes down pit road for service, saying that he has a  loose car.

Conor Daly is off the track.

The top seven drivers have yet to make a pit stop on lap 22.  Tyler Reddick is back in the top 10 in eighth place.

Alex Bowman passes Ross Chastain for fifth.

Lap 22, William Byron has a lead of over half a second on Austin Cindric; AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.

Lap 23, Jordan Taylor makes his first NASCAR pit stop.

Corey LaJoie is dragging his diffuser and is being black flagged to come down pit road.

Kyle Busch made his pit stop just in time, he had a tire that would not have made it another lap.

Lap 23, William Byron leads the race as more drivers come down pit road for fuel and fresh tires.

William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, and Daniel Suarez are the only drivers who have yet to make a pit stop.  Once they come down pit road, Tyler Reddick will be the new leader.

Lap 24leaders come down pit road, Tyler Reddick takes over the lead.

At a pit road speed of 40mph, each pit stop takes 45 seconds from pit entrance to pit exit.  The crew threw a new radio to AJ Allmendinger.

After all of the drivers have made a pit stop Tyler Reddick leads the race with Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.

Lap 26, Tyler Reddick has a four second lead on Austin Dillon.  Kimi Raikkonen is the highest ranking driver of the All Stars in 13th place.  He is the last Formula One driver to win in a Ferrari. 

Ryan Blaney is the only driver on the track not on the lead lap.  Conor Daly is off the track with Bubba Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, and Ty Dillon out of the race.

Lap 29 Tyler Reddick has pulled out to a lead of over six seconds on Austin Dillon; Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson roundout the top five.

William Byron is up to 13th after making his pit stop.

Tyler Reddick wins stage two by over eight seconds.  This is his first stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Tyler Reddick
Austin Dillon
Michael McDowell
Kevin Harvick
Chris Buescher
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kyle Larson
Erik Jones
Chase Briscoe
Noah Gragson

The drivers who are on a three pit stop strategy come down pit road for service. 

Kyle Larson was caught speeding on pit road.

Ty Gibbs was charged with shortcutting the S’s and will have to serve a passthrough penalty.

Lap 32, leader Tyler Reddick comes down pit road for service and gives the lead over to Chris Buescher.

Leader Chris Buescher and second place driver Erik Jones will have to make a pit stop very soon; at the time, William Byron will retake the lead.

Lap 33, William Byron passes Erik Jones for second.

Leader Chris Buescher makes his pit stop and gives the lead over the William Byron.

The top five are William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch round out the top five.  Tyler Reddick returns to the track and is in sixth place.

Ty Gibbs was caught shortcutting the course again and will have to serve another pass through penalty. 

Harrison Burton has lost first gear.

Lap 36, William Byron has a lead of over two seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

Lap 37, Tyler Reddick passes AJ Allmendinger for second.  William Byron is two seconds out in front.

Lap 37, Joey Logano has not made a pit stop since lap eleven.

Christopher Bell gets turned around on the track but gets moving again and the track stays green.  There is a lot of dirt on the track where Bell got turned around.

Lap 38, Tyler Reddick has caught leader William Byron and passes Byron for the lead.

The top five are Tyler Reddick, William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain.

Lap 39, Joey Logano makes his pit stop.

Lap 40, William Byron is nearly a second and a half behind leader Tyler Reddick; Daniel Suarez, AJ Allmendinger, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

The third caution flag of the race comes out on lap 41 for debris – dirt – on the track.

Most of the field comes down pit road for service with 26 laps remaining in the race.  Tyler Reddick wins the race off of pit road.  AJ Almendinger had a slow pit stop and comes out in 15th.

After staying out on the track Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with 25 laps to go; Harrison Burton is in second.  The drivers get six wide across the track.  William Byron takes the lead with Ross Chastain in second; Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Tyler Reddick passes Ross Chastain  for second.

Conor Daly is out of the race.  Corey LaJoie is the only car not on the lead lap, two laps down.

Lap 44, William Byron has a lead of over half a second on Tyler Reddick; Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Austin Dillon round out the top five.

Lap 45, Tyler Reddick and William Byron battle for the lead – swapping the lead back and forth.  Byron finally gets out in front but Ross Chastain has closed the gap on the duo.

Lap 46, Tyler Reddick finally gets around William Byron for the lead.  Ross Chastain challenges William Byron for second; Alex Bowman is in fourth.

Twenty to go, Tyler Reddick has a lead of over half a second on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Austin Dillon round out the top five.

Kyle Larson has a broken toe link; saying the rear end is knocked out, and is trying to get to pit road.

Ryan Preece was charged with shortcutting the course and  while making his pass through penalty, he was caught speeding and has to make a second trip down pit road.

Lap 49, Tyler Reddick has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Austin Dillon round out the top five.

AJ Allmendinger has no radio, his crew is using the “old school” messaging with a sign to relay messages.  Currently Allmendinger is two laps short of fuel.  Allmendinger is in tenth place.

Tyler Reddick’s crew chief reports that they are one lap short of fuel.  Reddick is less than a second in front of William Byron who is also reportedly one lap short on fuel.

Lap 52, Tyler Reddick leads the race with William Byron in second; Ross Chastain, AlexBowman, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr spins out but get the car going again and the track stays green.

Fifteen to go, leader Tyler Reddick and William Byron have both slowed their pace in an attempt to save fuel.  The two Trackhouse cars – Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez – are good on fuel.  Chastain is currently in third and Suarez is in fifth.

Daniel Suarez passes Alex Bowman for fourth.

Kyle Busch’s team knew that they could not make it on fuel and made a pit stop for fuel; which dropped him from 12th to 30th.

Alex Bowman’s crew reports that he is at least five laps short of fuel; his crew tells him to run at 80 percent.

William Byron got out of the groove after running through some dirt and the Trackhouse cars pass him with Daniel Suarez taking second and Ross Chastain in third.

Brad Keselowski brings out the caution flag on lap 56 when he gets stopped on the track in turn seven.

Much of the field comes down pit road for fuel.

Tyler Reddick wins the race off of pit road.  Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez had a slow pit stop after the crews had trouble with the tires.

Christopher Bell is among the five drivers who stayed out on the track and leads the race with Kyle Busch in second.

Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kimi Raikkonen, and Ryan Preece were the five cars who stayed out on the track.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with just nine laps remaining in the race.  Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, and Ross Chastain got turned around on the track.

Tyler Reddick comes from the third row to take the lead.

Stopped on the track, Ross Chastain brings out the caution flag. 

Tyler Reddick leads the race with Christopher Bell in second; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with seven laps remaining in the race with Tyler Reddick in the lead going into turn one but Reddick missed the turn and William Byron takes the lead.

Christopher Bell gets turned around but gets moving again and the track stays green.

The top five are William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Daniel Suarez.

AJ Allmendinger takes his car to the garage and is out of the race.

Daniel Suarez passes Martin Truex Jr for fourth.

Six to go, William Byron leads the race with Tyler Reddick on his bumper.

Five to go, William Byron leads the race with Tyler Reddick right behind; Kyle Busch is in third place over two seconds back; Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

Austin Dillon shortcut the course and has to serve a passthrough penalty.

William Byron gets loose and Tyler Reddick passes for the lead.

Four to go, Tyler Reddick holds on to the lead with William Byron a half second behind; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

The caution flag comes out with four laps to go for debris on the track.  Austin Dillon has a smoking car and may be the cause of the debris.

There are 31 cars on the lead lap.

The race goes into overtime…

Three of the “road course ringers” are still on the lead lap – Kimi Raikkonen, Jordan Taylor, and Jenson Button.  Conor Daly and Jimmie Johnson are out of the race.

Tyler Reddick chooses the inside lane with William Byron on the outside; Kyle Busch is right behind Reddick on the restart.

Daniel Suarez’ mom and sister drove over six hours from Monterrey, Mexico to see Daniel race.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the overtime shootout to the finish with Tyler Reddick getting out in front for the lead and Kyle Busch in second.

The top five are Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Martin Truex Jr.

Ryan Blaney has a smoking car and brings out the car for debris all over the track.  Ryan Preece also has some damage to his car and is spewing debris all over the place after contact with Josh Bilicki.  The race will go into a second overtime.

Ryan Preece came back out on the track but has a smoking car.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag overtime shootout from the inside lane with the drivers getting spread out and Martin Truex Jr spins out.  Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch are side by side in a battle for the lead.  Tyler Reddick gets out in front.

Justin Haley spins out but gets going again; the track stays green.  Ryan Blaney spins out.

Michael McDowell gets turned around and makes a run through the grass.  Christopher Bell spins out.  Daniel Suarez has a flat tire and shreds all over the track.  Kimi Raikkonen gets turned around.

The race goes into a third overtime after the caution flag comes out.

Eleven laps ago, Ross Chastain was in 28th, he is now in the top five. 

Driving the number nine car, Jordan Taylor is in 10th place.

All of the cars on the track are one the lead lap.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the third overtime shootout from the inside lane with Alex Bowman on the outside.  Tyler Reddick gets out in front for the lead.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets sideways but the track stays green.

Crash on the track Christopher Bell has a torn up car but the track stays green.  Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, and Alric Almirola were also involved. 

Tyler Reddick pulls out to a lead of over a second and a half over Alex Bowman.

Tyler Reddick takes the white flag with Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman battling for second.  Kurt Busch said that he wished he was back in the 45 car but it is in good hands.

Tyler Reddick wins the race with a lead of nearly two seconds.

Tyler Reddick wins the race!  Larry McReynolds points out that Tyler Reddick is the third driver in the 45 car to win a race in less than a year.

Reddick does several burnouts on the way to making a stop by pit road for hugs from the crew and to pick up his son.

The unofficial results of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix:
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Busch
Alex Bowman
Ross Chastain
William Byron
Austin Cindric
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chris Buescher
Ty Gibbs
Todd Gilliland
Corey LaJoie
Michael McDowell
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Larson
Chase Briscoe
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr
Jenson Button
Justin Haley
Noah Gragson
Ryan Blaney
Harrison Burton
Erik Jones
Jordan Taylor
Cody Ware
Josh Bilicki
Kimi Raikkonen
Daniel Suarez
Joey Logano
Aric Almirola
Christopher Bell
Ryan Preece
Austin Dillon
AJ Allmendinger
Brad Keselowski
Conor Daly
Bubba Wallace
Jimmie Johnson
Ty Dillon