NASCAR is back at Circuit of the Americas for its 5th year

The Brief

• NASCAR is back at Circuit of the Americas for its 5th year

• You can catch all the action on FOX 7 Austin on Sunday, March 2, at 2:30 p.m.

AUSTIN, Texas – The energy, excitement, and engines are coming to the Circuit of the Americas.

Fans and drivers are revved up for race weekend because NASCAR at COTA is back on track for its fifth year.

You can catch all the action on FOX 7 Austin on Sunday, March 2, at 2:30 p.m.

NASCAR at COTA

What they’re saying

“We’ve still got so much value, so much entertainment, and NASCAR is just fantastic,” said Scott Cooper, with Speedway Motorsports. “It’s a party, and we want everybody to come out and join us.”

It will be the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has used the National Course layout.

“The biggest change this year was the move from the full course to the national course,” said Cooper. “We’ve gone from a 3.4-mile course to a 2.4-mile course. So the lap times are about a minute faster than they were last year.”

For fans, the smaller course means more action, more laps, and more face time with your favorite drivers.

“This is a very unique and different challenge for the drivers,” said Cooper. “This is a very technical course. They’ve got 17 turns to navigate and the teams and the drivers especially spend a lot of time in simulators trying to duplicate what they’re going to hear, what they’re going to find when they get here.”

There is also plenty of competition, with last year’s winner, William Byron, and the second-place finisher, Christopher Bell, going head-to-head again.

“The first two races of the year this year, which were both Super Speedways,” said Cooper. “William Byron won at Daytona. Christopher Bell won this past weekend at Atlanta. So those two drivers are going to be strong.”

The racer’s checkered past will not be the only entertainment. NASCAR even has a fun zone for the kiddos.

“We’ve got dance troops from America’s Got Talent,” said Cooper. “We’ve got actual pig races. We’re even going to have aerial acrobats and motorcycle stunt guys.”

Plus, the Speedway Experience will be a hub for the drivers and legends like Kenny Wallace and Kyle Petty.

The Source

Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Katie Pratt