It’s time for some road course racing in NASCAR with a race at Circuit of the Americas – COTA.
Forty teams brought cars to COTA including all three of the Trackhouse Racing drivers – Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch, and Shane van Gisbergen – for 38 starting spots.
The drivers get 50 minutes of practice time. They will be divided into two groups for one 25 minute round of group qualifying to set the field.
Early on in practice, Nick Sanchez gets into the gravel known as “the beach”. NASCAR pauses practice in order to pull Sanchez out of the gravel.
After his win last week in Atlanta, Sheldon Creed received over 500 text messages of congratulations; over 300 of them just after the race.
Seventeen year old Brent Crews makes his O’Reilly Auto Parts Debut and in a few weeks when he turns 18 will run the remainder of the season as a Rookie of the Year candidate.
Austin J Hill is stopped on the track with a smoking car and flames coming out from under the car with an apparent blown engine and brings out the red flag.
Connor Zilisch has a smoking car with a flat tire.
In just two races so far this season, 10 different organizations have put a car in the top 10.
JR Motorsports has six cars in the race this week.
Sam Mayer topped the leaderboard in practice; Sheldon Creed, Austin Green, Jesse Love, and Anthony Alfredo round out the top five.
With a time of 97.74 seconds, Connor Zilisch put the number one car on the pole for the 10th time with Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen starting alongside on the front row in the number nine car giving JR Motorsports the front row.
The starting lineup for the Focused Health 250:
Connor Zilisch
Shane van Gisbergen
Austin Hill
Brandon Jones
Justin Allgier
Carson Kvapil
Brent Crews
Sam Mayer
Sheldon Creed
Sammy Smith
Jesse Love
Corey Day
Austin Green
Taylor Gray
William Sawalich
Anthony Alfredo
Preston Pardus
Ryan Sieg
Rajah Caruth
Nick Sanchez
Ross Chastain
Sage Karam
Harrison Burton
Blaine Perkins
Josh Bilicki
Brennan Poole
Dean Thompson
Aalex Labbe
Parker Retzlaff
Jeremy Clements
Lavar Scott
Patrick Staropoli
Ryan Ellis
Jeb Burton
Kyle Sieg
JJ Yeley
Baltazar Leguizamon
Austin J Hill
Josh Williams and Tyler Gonzalez failed to qualify for the race.
Stages one and two are just 20 laps each with stage three lasting 25 laps for a total of 65 laps around the 2.4 mile course.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Shane van Gisbergen alongside. Drivers spread out three and four wide going into turn one with Shane van Gisbergen taking the lead.
This is the first ever road course race for retina specialist Dr. Patrick Staropoli.
Shane van Gisbergen leads lap one with Connor Zilisch in second; Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five.
Lap three, Justin Allgaier passes Austin Hill for third; Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over half a second on Connor Zilisch.
Lap four, Austin Hill gets back around Justin Allgaier for third.
Lap five, Connor Zilisch is on leader Shane van Gisbergen’s bumper and on lap six, Zilisch gets out in front for the lead.
Lap six, the top five are Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer.
Jeremy Clements got off into the gravel but got the car moving again and the track stays green.
Lap seven, Connor Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Shane van Gisbergen.
Lap 10, Connor Zilisch has increased his lead on Shane van Gisbergen to just under a second; Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
Lap eleven, Argentine driver Baltazar Leguizamon got stopped on the track after getting loose and spinning out but he got moving again and the track stays green.
Six laps remain in stage one, Connor Zilisch continues to lead the race with Shane van Gisbergen in second; Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
Just five laps remain in stage one with Connor Zilisch nearly a second out in front of Shane van Gisbergen.
Rajah Caruth has been working his way through the field and is up to 14th.
Sammy Smith makes a trip down pit road for service.
Justin Allgaier has reported some possible fuel pump issues.
Three to go in stage one, Shane van Gisbergen has caught Connor Zilisch and passes to retake the lead.
Some of the drivers are coming down pit road to flip the stage including leaders Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilsich.
Austin Hill is the new leader.
Austin Hill wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Austin Hill
Sam Mayer
Justin Allgaier
Brandon Jones
Jesse Love
Carson Kvapil
Corey Day
Austin Green
Rajah Caruth
Shane van Gisbergen
Justin Allgaier reported he got passed by Sam Mayer because he was out of fuel.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Sam Mayer winning the race off of pit road, but after short pitting the end of the stage, Shane van Gisbergen retakes the lead.
Connor Zilisch is reporting some possible brake issues; saying the pedal is going to the floor and the car is pulling to the right.
Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 25 with Connor Zilisch alongside. In a three wide battle, 17 year old Brent Crews in his first O’Reilly Series race takes the lead.
The top five are Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen, and Ross Chastain.
Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen pass Sammy Smith; sending Smith to fourth.
Lap 27, the top five Brent Crews, Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed.
Connor Zilisch has a smoking car. Shane van Gisbergen passes Zilisch for second.
Lap 28, Connor Zilisch has dropped to sixth.
Lap 29, Shane van Gisbergen passes Brent Crews to take the lead.
Lap 30, the top five are shane van Gisbergen, Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, Brent Crews, and Austin Hill.
Lap 31, Connor Zilisch is falling through the field with continued brake issues.
The top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Brent Crews.
Lap 32, Justin Allgaier is also having some issues with his car and has dropped out of the top 20.
Lap 33, Justin Allgaier brings his car down pit road for repairs/service with continued mechanical issues.
Sam Mayer passes Sammy Smith for second with Shane van Gisbergen over two seconds out in front.
Lap 34, Josh Bilicki brings his car to a stop off the racing service with an apparent mechanical issue. Attrition is starting to take a toll on the drivers.
Baltazar Leguizamon brings out the caution flag when he gets into the tire barrier on lap 35.
Shane van Gisbergen leads several of the drivers down pit road for service. SVG reports to his crew that the car is “awesome”. Sam Mayer wins the race off of pit road from pit stall number one.
Connor Zilisch is on pit road for repairs.
Justin Allgaier’s unscheduled pit stop was for a loose wheel.
After staying out on the track, Brandon Jones brings the field down for the green flag restart with Carson Kvapil alongside with just two laps remaining in stage two. Carson Kvapil takes the lead with Sam Mayer in second; Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, and Shane van Gisbergen rounding out the top five.
Sam Mayer passes Carson Kvapil for the lead with Justin Allgaier passes for second.
Sam Mayer wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Sam Mayer
Justin Allgaier
Carson Kvapil
Jesse Love
Shane van Gisbergen
Austin Hill
Brandon Jones
Sammy Smith
Ross Chastain
Ryan Sieg
Nick Sanchez and Dean Thompson make contact and spin out in a battle for 15th.
Connor Zilisch is on pit road to replace a sheared brake rotor.
Sam Mayer brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Jesse Love looking to take the lead.
The top five are Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Sammy Smith, and Austin Hill.
Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, and Shane van Gisbergen battle for the lead with SVG getting out in front.
Twenty to go, Shane van Gisbergen leads the race with Jesse Love in second; Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
With just 20 laps remaining in the race, the drivers are doing a lot more beating and banging for position.
Back on the track with a repaired brake rotor, Connor Zilisch has moved up 10 spots and is in the top 20.
Lavar Scott gets hit from behind and spins out but the track stays green.
Seventeen to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over a second on Jesse Love; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
Taylor Gray gets loose and just avoids the tire barrier; the track stays green.
Connor Zilisch continues to work his way through traffic and has moved up 18 spots just outside the top 10 in eleventh.
With 12 laps remaining in the race, Shane van Gisbergen has a second and a half lead on Jesse Love; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Brent Crews round out the top five.
Austin Green is off the pace with a possible engine or transmission issue.
Ten to go, Sage Karam is smoking heavily and working his way to pit road. He doesn’t make it to pit road and the caution flag comes out.
Nine to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a two and a half second lead on Jesse Love at the time of the caution; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Brent Crews rounds out the top five.
Shane van Gisbergen brings much of the field down pit road for fuel and fresh tires. Jess Love wins the race off of pit road with Shane van Gisbergen losing three spots but five cars stayed out on the track.
JR Motorsports has won the last nine road course races with four different drivers.
After staying out on the track, Nick Sanchez brings the field down for the green flag restart with Justin Allgaier alongside. There are just six laps remaining in the race. Drivers spread out three and four wide going into turn one with Shane fan Gisbergen taking the lead.
The top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Corey Day. Justin Allgaier is in seventh place with Connor Zilisch is in eighth place.
With four laps remaining in the race, Shane van Gisbergen ran the fastest lap of the race.
Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil, and Raja Caruth get bogged down at turn six. All three driver get moving again.
Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of nearly two seconds on Austin Hill.
Connor Zilisch gets turned around in the esses after some on track contact from Corey Day but he gets moving again with three laps to go.
Shane van Gisbergen takes the white flag with a near two second lead.
Shane van Gisbergen wins the race to finally conquer COTA.
The unofficial results of the Focused Health 250:
Shane van Gisbergen
Austin Hill
Sammy Smith
Jesse Love
Corey Day
Brent Crews
William Sawalich
Justin Allgaier
Ross Chastain
Brennan Poole
Sheldon Creed
Taylor Gray
Alex Labbe
Sam Mayer
Brandon Jones
Ryan Sieg
Blaine Perkins
Jeb Burton
Carson Kvapil
Patrick Staropoli
Connor Zilisch
Lavar Scott
Anthony Alfredo
Kyle Sieg
Nick Sanchez
Dean Thompson
Preston Pardus
JJ Yeley – Brad Perez
Harrison Burton
Parker Retzlaff
Rajah Caruth
Jeremy Clements
Austin Green
Ryan Ellis
Sage Karam
Josh Bilicki
Baltazar Leguizmon
Austin J Hill
And he kicks the football only to have it bounce back on to the track. It was a really long kick!