New road. New rodeo.
That’s the theme for the fifth edition of NASCAR’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas this weekend. Instead of racing on the 3.4-mile, 20-turn layout Formula One and other series use, NASCAR is debuting the National Course, a 2.4-mile,17-turn layout.
The main event is Sunday, with the Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 and a pair of IMSA international sports car races Saturday.
“We really made the course for the fans,” race director Bryan Hammond said. “It cuts off 1-minute, 10-seconds of lap time and trims about 5 minutes off caution laps. It puts the cars in front of the fans a bunch more times. Twenty-seven, to be exact.”
The National Course will be 95 laps over 228 miles, compared to 68 laps and 232 miles of the past. Areas on the back of the course have been replaced by temporary walls.
“Definitely a new challenge,” Hammond said, “but just as technical as the full course. I think it’s going to be so much fun to drive.”
Some drivers told the American-Statesman spoke to need to be convinced. They don’t get on the course for the first time until Saturday morning.
“Looking at the overhead shots, it cuts out some fun portions of the track,” Ricky Steinhouse Jr., the 2023 Daytona 500 winner, said. “I definitely liked running further up that hill. The restarts got kinda chaotic, especially when we’d hang tires in the dirt and the track got really slick. That allowed us to make some passes back there.
“But it lets us run more laps, be more visible to the fans, we’ll circle past them a lot more often, which I don’t think is a bad thing.”
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, is anxious to test it out.
“Certainly we’ve run the course in simulators, though that’s not like the real thing,” Blaney said. “Adjustments will need to be made. I hope it doesn’t lose any of its magic. I don’t think it will. It’s a fantastic track and one of the coolest places to win at.”
Ross Chastain, the 2022 COTA Cup winner, said, “I need to see it with my own eyes. It’s a good thing to have a little change, puts us on our toes. The best race teams adapt. The Gen-7 cars have allowed for better road-course racing.” Hammond explained some of the changes.
“Turn 7, where you turn into the cutout will be a nice slow passing zone, which is what fans and drivers told us they wanted,” he said. “A couple other turns back there have been eliminated. It will be a little like the Roval in Charlotte. Our TV partner FOX is excited about it, NASCAR officials approve. Cars will be more visible to the fans. We think it will be a winner.”
Blaney suspects the new course will not dictate the results.
“Turn 1 (up the 133-foot hill) is always tough, especially on restarts,” he said. “Then you got that narrow funnel to navigate. The esses are extremely difficult, figuring out where the out-of-bounds are, judging inches while going 150 mph. That stuff is not gonna change.”
Xfinity race note: Only one full-time NXS driver has won the Focused Health 250, which drops the green flag at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. A.J. Allmendinger, an accomplished road racer, did that in 2022 for Kaulig Racing. Kyle Busch won the inaugural in 2021, Allmendinger repeated in ’23 and Kyle Larson triumphed last year.
The Vegas odds are a bit shocking. Connor Zilisch, 18 years young and preparing for his Cup debut Sunday, is the favorite at +175 — less than 2-to-1. The much-hyped Zilisch has plenty of road-course experience on two continents.
Cup star William Byron, interloping in Xfinity for this race, is the second choice at +275, followed by fellow Cup regular Ross Chastain (+325). Everyone else is a long shot. Sam Mayer is 14-to-1, last week’s Xfinity winner Austin Hill 18-to-1 and defending Xfinity Series champ Justin Allgaier 20-to-1.
NASCAR at COTA
Friday-Sunday, Circuit of the Americas, tickets — $91 weekend grounds pass, $241 weekend main grandstand, $50 and up Saturday only, $80 general admission Sunday, $120 and up grandstand Sunday
Saturday — VP Sportscar Challenge 8:40-9:25 a.m.; NASCAR Cup Series practices 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (Prime Video); NASCAR Cup Series qualifying (Prime Video); Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 1:30-4 p.m. (The CW); VP Sportscar Challenge 5-5:45 p.m.; Sunday — Cory Kent concert 12:45-1:45 p.m.; NASCAR EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix 2:30 p.m. (Fox)
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: NASCAR will run on an altered COTA course in 2025 race in Austin
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