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 road course, the race was shortened to 54 laps by heavy rain. It was the 14th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Report
Background
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 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. The lower Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series were also added as support events. On December 11, 2020, it was announced that NASCAR would run the full 3.41 mile course.
British IMSA driver Kyle Tilley made his NASCAR debut, replacing B. J. McLeod for Live Fast Motorsports.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 53 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Kyle Tilley Live Fast Motorsports Ford 96 Ty Dillon (i) Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team ChevroletOfficial entry list
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 .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:37.694 77.847 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 2:38.281 77.558 3 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:38.468 77.467Official practice results
Qualifying In a dry track, Tyler Reddick scored the pole for the race with a time of 2:12.911 and a speed of .
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 Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 18 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2:13.602 2:12.911 25 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:14.192 2:13.011 333 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 2:13.850 2:13.697 418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:13.905 2:13.708 524 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:14.127 2:13.760 622 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 2:13.977 2:13.791 716 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 2:13.490 2:13.842 89 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:14.352 2:14.117 912 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 2:14.486 2:14.518 1020 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:14.349 2:14.548 114 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2:14.352 2:14.792 1248 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2:14.578 2:14.894 131 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2:14.708 — 1441 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2:15.025 — 1599 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 2:15.118 — 163 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2:15.325 — 1719 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:15.375 — 1823 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 2:15.416 — 1911 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:15.528 — 2042 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2:15.685 — 2121 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 2:15.852 — 2247 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 2:15.852 — 2334 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 2:15.902 — 242 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 2:15.929 — 257 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 2:16.245 — 2610 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2:16.558 — 2714 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2:16.686 — 2817 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2:16.728 — 2943 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 2:17.032 — 3077 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 2:17.051 — 3152 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 2:17.246 — 3215 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 2:17.563 — 3396 Ty Dillon (i) Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 2:17.682 — 346 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2:18.067 — 3551 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 2:18.194 — 3637 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 2:18.252 — 3738 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 2:18.701 — 3853 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 2:18.804 — 3978 Kyle Tilley Live Fast Motorsports Ford 2:20.361 — 4000 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 2:20.985 — Official qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 15
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 102 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 93 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 84 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 06 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 57 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 48 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 17
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 84 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 05 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 66 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 09 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 210 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 36
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 54 492 2 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 54 473 6 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 54 444 20 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 54 365 7 16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 54 06 27 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 54 377 23 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 54 398 12 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 54 309 1 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 54 3610 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54 3911 5 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 54 2612 16 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 54 2513 28 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 54 2914 19 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54 2315 36 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 54 2616 29 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 54 2117 9 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 54 2018 37 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 54 1919 24 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 54 1820 25 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 54 2321 33 96 Ty Dillon (i) Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 54 022 22 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 54 1523 21 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 54 1524 34 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 54 1325 3 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 54 026 26 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 54 1127 13 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 54 1828 38 53 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 029 32 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 54 830 31 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 731 39 78 Kyle Tilley Live Fast Motorsports Ford 54 632 35 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 53 033 15 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 46 434 40 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 38 335 17 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 24 236 14 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 24 137 11 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 19 138 10 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 18 139 18 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 18 140 30 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 12 0Official race results
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:
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.
FS1Booth announcersPit reportersIn-race analyst Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Jeff GordonColor-commentator: Clint Bowyer Jamie LittleRegan Smith Larry McReynolds
Radio PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
PRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Turn 1: Rob AlbrightTurns 2 to Becketts: Brett McMillanChapel to S do Senna: Doug TurnbullTo Sepang Hairpin: Ralph SheheenMotodrom: Pat PattersonIstanbul 8 to Turn 20: Brad Gillie Wendy VenturiniAlan CavannaHeather DeBeaux
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hamlin 597 2 William Byron 499 (–98) 2 3 Kyle Larson 487 (–110) 4 Joey Logano 486 (–111) 2 5 Chase Elliott 481 (–116) 3 6 Martin Truex Jr. 474 (–123) 1 7 Ryan Blaney 458 (–139) 8 Kevin Harvick 428 (–169) 9 Brad Keselowski 422 (–175) 10 Kyle Busch 422 (–175) 11 Austin Dillon 366 (–231) 1 12 Alex Bowman 362 (–235) 1 13 Chris Buescher 338 (–259) 2 14 Christopher Bell 337 (–260) 15 Tyler Reddick 334 (–263) 16 Michael McDowell 329 (–268)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 507 2 Ford 494 (–13) 3 Toyota 479 (–28)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
References