NASCAR takes an intriguing turn this weekend, heading to Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. This 3.4-mile road course has hosted the United States Grand Prix for Formula One for nine years, and now NASCAR will take the course on for the first time. There are 20 turns on the course, with more than 130 feet of changes in elevation. Each corner is designed to mirror sections of famed Formula One tracks from elsewhere in the world. The race starts Sunday at 2:30 pm Eastern time, and you can catch the broadcast on FS1, with the radio call on PRN.
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NASCAR News: Cup Series EchoPark Texas Grand Prix Preview
| Driver | Odds |
| Chase Elliott | +240 |
| Martin Truex Jr | +450 |
| Denny Hamlin | +900 |
| Kyle Busch | +1300 |
| Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney | +1400 |
| Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Joey Logano | +1800 |
| Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski | +2000 |
| Austin Cindric | +2200 |
| A.J. Allmendinger | +2800 |
| Kurt Busch | +3000 |
| Matt DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell | +6600 |
| Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer, Erik Jones | +8000 |
| Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez | +10000 |
| Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman | +15000 |
| Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr | +20000 |
| Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Ty Dillon | +25000 |
| Justin Haley | +50000 |
| Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, James DAvison | +75000 |
| Cody Ware, Kyle Tilley | +100000 |
| Quin Houff, Josh Bilicki, Garrett Smithley | +150000 |
Obviously, given that this is NASCAR’s maiden voyage at Circuit of the Americas, track history won’t be part of the discussion this week. However, NASCAR does use other road courses, and the favorites reflect that. Denny Hamlin is still looking for his first victory in 2021, but he has been in the top seven in all of the 2021 races with the 750 HP package. At the Daytona road course this year, he came in third, and he has ten top-five finishes in road races, including a win at Watkins Glen in 2016.
Martin Truex Jr has four victories on road courses, starting in 2013 at Sonoma. He won at Watkins Glen in 2017 and then won at Sonoma in both 2018 and 2019. He settled for 12th place at the 2021 Daytona road course race.
Chase Elliott is the favorite for a couple of reasons. For one, he has an average finish of 9.8 in 13 NASCAR Cup Series road races, with five victories. His win total and his average finish both lead the Cup Series. The other reason is his familiarity with the course; he was one of three drivers who came down earlier in the year to do testing to determine which tires would be the best for this course. However, he still has yet to win any races in 2021 after winning the Cup Series championship in 2020.
Kevin Harvick is dropping down to run the Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas as well. Why? Because the Cup Series drivers get ONE practice session at the circuit for this race. This involves running a few laps, making some minor setup changes, running a few more laps and then getting off the course. Harvick is doing this to get more reps for himself, which could help him against some of the better road course drivers on Sunday. Kyle Busch is running in the Xfinity Series race for the same reason. He won the Clash at Daytona Road Course, so he’s going for his second win on a road course in 2021.
Ryan Blaney is not normally considered an elite road racer, but he did get a victory in 2018 at the Roval. His win was somewhat fortunate, but you have to put yourself in position to take advantage of fortune, and he did. The road course that is most similar to Circuit of the Americas in NASCAR rotation is Sonoma, and Blaney came in third the last time he raced there.
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