After two superspeedway races, NASCAR travels to Austin, Texas and Circuit of the Americas for some road course racing.  The course has been modified this year to shorten the distance around the course about a mile.  Portions of the course has been repaved and Goodyear has brought in a new tire.

Thirty-seven teams have brought cars to COTA for the Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix.

The drivers have been divided into two groups for two 20 minute practice sessions before making a single round of group qualifying run.

NASCAR is enforcing track limits; which means if all four of the tires are below the red and white lines, the driver is considered off the course.  The penalty for short cutting the track will be coming to a complete stop before continuing.  If the penalty occurs on the final lap, it is a 30 second penalty.

After only about four laps the drivers are seeing a tire falloff of about a second and a half.

Not surprising, road course expert Shane an Gisbergen tops the leaderboard in Group A practice with a time of 98.86 seconds.

Several of the drivers have had lap times disallowed during practice for short cutting portions of the course.

On oval tracks the teams usually have just one spotter, but on road course races they will have three or four scattered around the course to aid the drivers.

Kyle Larson is the only driver in Group B to be in the top five; Ross Chastain is the next Group B driver in tenth overall – Groups A and B.

For qualifying, Group A will go out and the times will be posted; Group B will go out and the times will be posted and then the times for the two groups will be merged to set the field.

After making a qualifying practice run, Shane van Gisbergen topped the leaderboard for the second practice session with a time of 98.85 seconds.

This is an impound race, which means the crews are very limited in what they can change or adjust.

Third overall, Carson Hocevar is the leader of Group B’s second practice with a time of 99.47 seconds.

This is a big weekend for Connor Zilisch; the 18 year old is a regular in the Craftsman Truck Series, but this weekend he is making his debut in Cup Series on the road course at COTA.  The two time Rolex 24 Hours winner sat on the pole in his first Truck Series start and in the Xfinity Series.  There has never been a driver sit on the pole in all three of his debuts in each series.

Daniel Suarez topped the board in Group A qualifying with a time of 98.49 seconds.  Three of the top five cars are from Trackhouse Racing.

Tyler Reddick put his number 45 car at the top of the board with a time of 98.08 seconds.

Tyler Reddick wins the pole for the Echo Park Grand Prix with teammate Bubba Wallace alongside on the front row.

Last week the Fords dominated the top 10; this week there is only one Ford in the top 10 – Todd Gillliland in 10th place.

The starting lineup for the Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix:
Tyler Reddick
Bubba Wallace
Chase Elliott
Carson Hocevar
Daniel Suarez
Shane van Gisbergen
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Ross Chastain
Todd Gilliland
Denny Hamlin
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Connor Zilisch
William Byron
Michael McDowell
Noah Gragson
Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell
Zane Smith
Alex Bowman
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Joey Logano
Chris Buescher
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Austin Dillon
Ryan Preece
Justin Haley
Cole Custer
Riley Herbst
Erik Jones
John Hunter Nemechek
Ty Dillon
Josh Berry
Austin Cindric
Cody Ware

Stage one of the race is 20 laps, stage two is 25 laps, and stage three is 50 laps for a total of 95 laps around the 17 turn 2.4 miles track.

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

Actor Jack Quaid gave a rousing command to start the engines.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with teammate Bubba Wallace alongside.  Reddick gets a jump out in the lead as the drivers get four and five wide going into turn one.  Chase Elliott gets spun out going into turn one after contact from Todd Gilliland, but the track stays green.

Connor Zilisch and Denny Hamlin have tire issues.  Zilisch comes down pit road with a flat tire.

Lap two, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Bubba Wallace in second; Shane van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, and Kyle Busch round out the top five.

Lap three, Tyler Reddick has a near half second lead on Bubba Wallace; Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Lap four, Austin Cindric and Ty Dillon make contact and send Dillon into the tire wall but the track stays green.

Lap five, Tyler Reddick has a lead of over Bubba Wallace with Shane van Gisbergen in third.

Bubba Wallace was charged with short cutting turn five and will have to serve a penalty.

Noah Gragson spins out on the track, but the track stays green.

Lap six, Tyler Reddick has led every lap so far with Bubba Wallace in second place but has yet to serve a penalty; Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Bubba Wallace serves his penalty and returns to the track in eighth place.

Tyler Reddick leads with Shane van Gisbergen in second and Kyle Busch in third.

Lap eight, the top five are Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, and Kyle Larson.

Shane van Gisbergen challenges leader Tyler Reddick for the lead.

Lap nine, Shane van Gisbergen passes Tyler Reddick to take the lead.

Lap nine,  Kyle Busch passes Tyler Reddick for second.

Lap 10, Shane van Gisbergen has a near one second lead on Kyle Busch; Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

Lap eleven, Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on Kyle Busch.

Lap 12, the tires have a drop off of about a second.

Ty Dillon is the only driver not on the lead lap.

Lap 14, Shane van Gisbergen holds a lead of over a second on Kyle Busch; Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

Eight of the top nine drivers have road course wins in NASCAR.

With four laps remaining in stage one, drivers are beginning to make pit stops and short pit the end of the stage.

Michael McDowell was charged with a pass through penalty after he had too many crew members over the wall.

Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch gives up first and second place to make a pit stop before it closes.  Bubba Wallace is the new leader with Joey Logano in second.

 Bubba Wallace wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Bubba Wallace
Joey Logano
Shane van Gisbergen
Kyle Busch
Chase Elliott
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Larson
Daniel Suarez
William Byron
AJ Allmendinger

Ty Dillon is the “lucky dog” and is back on the lead lap.

Drivers who have not made a pit stop come down pit road.  Shane van Gisbergen resumes the lead with Kyle Busch in second.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was charged with pitting too soon and will have to restart the race from the back of the longest line.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Kyle Busch alongside on lap 26.  Drivers spread out three and four wide going into turn one with van Gisbergen holding on to the lead.

Drivers are getting three wide in the corners.

The top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Daniel Suarez.

Kyle Busch passes Tyler Reddick for second.

Lap 27, Kyle Busch passes Shane van Gisbergen in turn one for the lead.

Lap 28, Kyle Busch has a near one second lead on Shane van Gisbergen; Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

It is a very warm day in Texas but the winds are blowing pretty strong; blowing the drivers around.

Lap 31, Kyle Busch has a lead of over a second on Shane van Gisbergen; Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, and William Byron round out the top five.

Kyle Larson has been posted for short cutting turn three and will have to serve a stop and go penalty with a drive through the access road.

Lap 33, Shane van Gisbergen is slowly closing the gap on leader Kyle Busch and is now under a second behind the leader.

Lap 34, less than a second behind leader, Shane van Gisbergen has Kyle Busch in his sights.

Lap 35, Shane van Gisbergen passes Kyle Busch to take the lead.

Lap 36, leader Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of half a second on Kyle Busch; AJ Allmendinger, William Byron, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Lap 37, Shane van Gisbergen continues to increase his lead on Kyle Busch and is now nearly a second out in front.

Lap 38, Shane van Gisbergen has increased his lead to over a second on Kyle Busch.

Lap 40, the top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, William Byron, and Daniel Suarez.

Denny Hamlin has been charged with a penalty for short cutting the course in turn five.  He will have to serve a stop and go penalty.

Rookie Connor Zilisch is slowly working his way through the field.

Lap 41, drivers are beginning to short pit the end of stage two.

Shane van Gisbergen ahs a lead of over a second on Kyle Busch; AJ Allmendinger, William Byron, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

John Hunter Nemechek is charged with a commitment cone violation and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Kyle Larson is having some issues on pit road; making for a slow stop.  Larson loses the right front tire coming off pit road.  The tire is running loose off the course.  He has been charged with a two lap penalty.

Leaders come down pit road for service just before pit road closes prior to the end of stage two.  Ryan Preece is the new leader.

Ryan Preece wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Preece
Ryan Blaney
Michael McDowell
Kyle Busch
Shane van Gisbergen
AJ Allmendinger
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Daniel Suarez

Drivers who did not pit before the end of the stage come down pit road for service.

With a 50 lap stage three, the drivers will have to make a pit stop during the stage.

Michael McDowell brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Kyle Busch alongside.  McDowell did not make a pit stop during the break.  McDowell takes the lead in turn two.  Kyle Busch passes Michael McDowell in turn six for the lead.

The top five are Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, Shane van Gisbergen and Christopher Bell.

Lap 50 Daniel Suarez spins out for the first caution flag of the day for an on track incident after being hit by Connor Zilisch who gets into the tire barrier.

Alex Bowman was charged with shortcutting the course in turn five.  After making a pit stop for a power steering issue, Bowman will restart the race from the back of the longest line.

According to former crew chief Larry McReynolds, lap 60 is the magic number for drivers to make a pit stop and make it to the end of the race – the time when the window opens.

Kyle Busch brings the field down for the green flag restart with AJ Allmendinger alongside on lap 55.  Drivers spread out three and four wide going into turn one with Busch taking the lead.

The top five are Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron.

Out of the race, Connor Zilisch said that he had a blast coming through the field.

Lap 58, Michael McDowell comes down pit road for service.

With 37 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Busch has a lead of under half a second on Christopher Bell; William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.  Shane van Gisbergen is just outside of the top five in sixth place.

Lap 60, Cole Custer makes his pit stop.

With 34 laps to go, AJ Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe battle for third.

Lap 65, Kyle Busch has a narrow lead on Christopher Bell; William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.

Todd Gilliland has been charged with short cutting the course and will have to serve a stop and go penalty.

With 29 laps to go, Kyle Busch has a lead of over a second on Christopher Bell; William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.

Bubba Wallace makes his green flag pit stop and the cycle for final pit stops begins.  The teams were given only five sets of tires for today’s race.

Lap 69, leader Kyle Busch makes his pit stop.  Christopher Bell is the new leader.

Kyle Busch returns to the race in fifth place.

Once green flag pit stops cycle through, Kyle Busch will retake the lead.

Alex Bowman has been charged with another shortcutting the course and will have to serve a stop and go penalty.

Lap 71, Christopher Bell makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Shane van Gisbergen.

Ryan Blaney makes his pit stop.  Kyle Busch is in second behind Shane van Gisbergen who has yet to make a pit stop.

With 21 laps to go, Shane van Gisbergen makes his pit stop.  Kyle Busch is the new leader.  He has a lead of two and a half seconds on William Byron.

Shane van Gisbergen returns to the track in eighth place but Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland have yet to pit.

Twenty to go!  Kyle Busch has a two and a half second lead on William Byron; Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

The caution flag comes out on lap 78 when Austin Dillon gets stuck in the gravel and needs a two after contact from Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Larson is the “lucky dog” and is back on the lead lap.

Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott were caught speeding on pit road and will restart the race from the back of the longest line.

Bubba Wallace has to restart the race after a choose box violation.

Kyle Busch brings the field down for the green flag restart with William Byron alongside on lap 82.  William Byron takes the lead briefly before Kyle Busch gets back out in front with Christopher Bell in second.

The top five are Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, and Shane van Gisbergen.

With 12 laps to go the drivers are getting very aggressive, beating and banging as they get three and four wide on the track.

Austin Dillon takes his car to the garage.

Back on the lead lap, Kyle Larson is up to 22nd.

Ten to go, Kyle Busch leads the race but Christopher Bell is on his bumper.

Kyle Larson spins out but the track stays green.

Austin Dillon is out of the race.

Christopher Bell missed a turn and nearly spun out but saved the car.  In a battle with William Byron, Bell holds Byron off to hold on to second.

Nine laps to go, Kyle Busch leads the race with Chrisotpher Bell in second; William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Seven to go, Kyle Busch holds on to the lead but is getting a challenge from Christopher Bell.

Six to go, Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch battle for the lead; but so far Busch holds Bell off.  William Byron is moving up to make it a three way battle.

Christopher Bell takes the lead but Kyle Busch continues to battle.  William Byron passes Kyle Busch for second.

Five to go; the top five are Christopher Bell, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Noah Gragson.

Tyler Reddick passes Kyle Busch for third.

Super speedway winners William Byron and Christopher Bell are in a battle for the win on the road course.

Kyle Busch reports that his “rear end is done”.

Christopher Bell takes the white flag – 2.4 miles form victory!

Christopher Bell wins COTA for two in a row!

The unofficial results of the Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix:
Christopher Bell
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Kyle Busch
Shane van Gisbergen
Chis Buescher
Noah Gragson
Alex Bowman
Todd Gilliland
Michael McDowell
Ross Chastain
Carson Hocevar
Chase Briscoe
Brad Keselowski
Justin Haley
Riley Herbst
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ryan Blaney
Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin
John Hunter Nemechek
Cole Custer
Joey Logano
Austin Cindric
Josh Berry
Erik Jones
Tu Dillon
Zane Smith
AJ Allmendinger
Cody Ware
Kyle Larson
Ty Gibbs
Austin Dillon
Daniel Suarez
Connor Zilisch