2021_Texas_Grand_Prix

2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix

2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix

NASCAR Cup Series race


The 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on May 23, 2021, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Originally scheduled for 68 laps on the 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road course, the race was shortened to 54 laps by heavy rain. It was the 14th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Report

Background

2021 EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix program cover

Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.

On September 30, 2020, it was announced that COTA would host a NASCAR Cup Series event for the first time on May 23, 2021.[7] The lower Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series were also added as support events.[8] On December 11, 2020, it was announced that NASCAR would run the full 3.41 mile course.[9]

British IMSA driver Kyle Tilley made his NASCAR debut, replacing B. J. McLeod for Live Fast Motorsports.[10]

Entry list

  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
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Practice

In a wet practice session, William Byron was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 2:37.694 with an average speed of 77.847 mph (125.283 km/h).[11]

Practice results

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Qualifying

In a dry track, Tyler Reddick scored the pole for the race with a time of 2:12.911 and a speed of 92.363 mph (148.644 km/h).[12]

NASCAR also implemented a new rule for qualifying. For road course qualifying, a timing loop marked on the circuit, not the start-finish line, will set official time. The rule is similar to that used by INDYCAR, which also uses knockout qualifying. At this circuit, the exit of Istanbul 8 will be used as the timing line.

Qualifying results

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Race

Tyler Reddick won his first career pole in qualifying. It began to rain on the first lap and all drivers pitted to change from slick tires to treaded rain tires. Kevin Harvick got heavy damage after making contact with Ryan Blaney, which also collected Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace. Joey Logano won the first stage. In the second stage, the rain picked up, and the ensuing spray created visibility issues. In one incident, Martin Truex Jr. got into the back of Michael McDowell and then was rammed into by Cole Custer, severely damaging both cars, and causing Custer's car to catch on fire. Kyle Busch won the second stage. On a round of green flag pit stops, Kyle Larson passed Busch for the lead. Alex Bowman took the lead from Larson and was then passed by Chase Elliott. The race was red flagged again due to heavier rain and was called official with 14 laps to go. Elliott was awarded the win, giving Chevrolet its 800th win in NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports its 268th win, tying Petty Enterprises for the most wins by team in NASCAR history.

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 15

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Stage Two Laps: 17

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Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 36

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Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 11 among 10 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 6 for 41
  • Red flags: 2 (1 for weather, 1 for 20 minutes and 54 seconds)
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 7 minutes and 11 seconds
  • Average speed: 59.024 miles per hour (94.990 km/h)

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered the race on the television side. Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

More information FS1, Booth announcers ...

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

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Standings after the race

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References

  1. "2021 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  2. "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  3. "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  4. "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  5. "Texas Grand Prix Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  6. "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  7. Long, Dustin. "Circuit of the Americas to host Cup for first time in 2021". Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  8. Crandall, Kelly (October 24, 2020). "Xfinity and Trucks to join Cup Series at COTA". Racer. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  9. Utter, Jim (December 11, 2020). "NASCAR opts for F1 track layout for Circuit of the Americas round". Racer. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
Previous race:
2021 Drydene 400
NASCAR Cup Series
2021 season
Next race:
2021 Coca-Cola 600

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