The 2021 Toyota Tundra 225 was the 9th stock car race of the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, and the inaugural running of the event. The race was held on Saturday, May 22, 2021 in Austin, Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. The race took 41 laps to complete. At the end, Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports would win the race, the second of his career and his first of the year. Kaz Grala of Young's Motorsports and Tyler Ankrum of GMS Racing would fill in the rest of the podium positions, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
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 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. 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.
Entry list #DriverTeamMake1Hailie DeeganDavid Gilliland RacingFord2Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet02Kaz GralaYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet3Roger ReuseJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet4John Hunter NemechekKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota04Cory RoperRoper RacingFord9Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet10Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevrolet11Camden MurphySpencer Davis MotorsportsChevrolet12Tate FoglemanYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet13Johnny SauterThorSport RacingToyota15Tanner GrayDavid Gilliland RacingFord16Austin HillHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota18Chandler SmithKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota19Derek KrausMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingToyota20Spencer BoydYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet21Zane SmithGMS RacingChevrolet22Austin Wayne SelfAM RacingChevrolet23Chase PurdyGMS RacingChevrolet24Jack WoodGMS RacingChevrolet25Timothy PetersRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet26Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet30Michele AbbateOn Point MotorsportsToyota32Sam MayerBret Holmes RacingChevrolet33Cameron LawrenceReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet34Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingToyota38Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord40Ryan TruexNiece MotorsportsChevrolet41Dawson CramCram Racing EnterprisesChevrolet42Carson HocevarNiece MotorsportsChevrolet44Logan BeardenNiece MotorsportsChevrolet45Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet49John AtwellCMI MotorsportsFord51Parker ChaseKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota52Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota56Timmy HillHill MotorsportsChevrolet66Paul MenardThorSport RacingToyota72Samuel LeComteCMI MotorsportsChevrolet75Parker KligermanHenderson MotorsportsChevrolet83Brad GrossCMI MotorsportsChevrolet88Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota98Christian EckesThorSport RacingToyota99Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota Official entry list
Practice The first and final practice took place on Friday, May 21 at 4:05 PM EST. Zane Smith of GMS Racing would win the pole with a 2:17.395 with an average speed of .
One incident would happen during practice: Brad Gross would spin with 26 minutes left in practice. Gross would receive damage from the spin and would not set a lap time. Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed121Zane SmithGMS RacingChevrolet2:17.39589.34822Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet2:17.73589.12839Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet2:18.47288.653 Full final practice results
Qualifying Qualifying would take place under torrential downpour on Saturday, May 22 at 10:06 AM EST. Qualifying consisted of two rounds- the first round would be 25 minutes long, and everyone would have a chance to set a lap time. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round- a 10 minute round in which whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 won the pole. While Kaz Grala of Young's Motorsports would set the fastest time in Round 1, Tyler Ankrum would win the pole, beating Grala in Round 2 with a 2:40:401 with an average speed of .
Logan Bearden, Dawson Cram, Spencer Boyd, Samuel LeComte, John Atwell, Brad Gross, and Jennifer Jo Cobb would all fail to make the event.
There were numerous incidents in qualifying. First, Chase Purdy and Derek Kraus would crash into each other, sending Kraus spinning. Cobb would crash in qualifying in Turn 13, causing substantial damage to her vehicle. Samuel LeComte would spin after going wide exiting turn 20, hitting the curbs and spinning. Cory Roper would spin in Turn 11 after also going wide. Finally, Kraus was involved with another incident, this time with Roger Reuse. Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)126Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet2:40.40176.5332:43.59175.041202Kaz GralaYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2:39.97876.736 2:43.72074.98232Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet2:41.74575.8972:44.17674.773488Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota2:41.91775.8172:44.21074.758538Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord2:42.05575.7522:44.62474.57064John Hunter NemechekKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2:40.73876.3732:44.96974.414733Cameron LawrenceReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet2:42.82775.3932:45.51774.168851Parker ChaseKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2:42.46975.5592:45.87074.010916Austin HillHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota2:42.70975.4482:46.86973.5671098Christian EckesThorSport RacingToyota2:42.76375.4232:47.80873.1551199Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota2:42:41775.5832:48.61572.8051240Ryan TruexNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2:42.58975.5030.0000.000 Eliminated in Round 11375Parker KligermanHenderson MotorsportsChevrolet2:42.95075.3360.0000.0001445Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2:43.21575.2140.0000.0001521Zane SmithGMS RacingChevrolet2:43.22075.2110.0000.0001652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota2:43.31875.1660.0000.0001742Carson HocevarNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2:43.47075.0960.0000.0001825Timothy PetersRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet2:43.59075.0410.0000.0001919Derek KrausMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingToyota2:43.59775.0380.0000.0002018Chandler SmithKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2:44.09874.8090.0000.0002132Sam MayerBret Holmes RacingChevrolet2:44.12674.7960.0000.0002256Timmy HillHill MotorsportsChevrolet2:44.15374.7840.0000.000239Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet2:44.27274.7300.0000.0002411Camden MurphySpencer Davis MotorsportsChevrolet2:44.32774.7050.0000.0002530Michele AbbateOn Point MotorsportsToyota2:44.81174.4850.0000.0002666Paul MenardThorSport RacingToyota2:44.97874.4100.0000.0002713Johnny SauterThorSport RacingToyota2:45.06974.3690.0000.000281Hailie DeeganDavid Gilliland RacingFord2:45.11474.3490.0000.0002922Austin Wayne SelfAM RacingChevrolet2:45.32274.2550.0000.0003012Tate FoglemanYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2:45.69074.0900.0000.0003123Chase PurdyGMS RacingChevrolet2:45.86774.0110.0000.000 Qualified by owner's points3234Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingToyota2:47.44773.3130.0000.0003324Jack WoodGMS RacingChevrolet2:47.99873.0720.0000.0003404Cory RoperRoper RacingFord2:49.82572.2860.0000.000353Roger ReuseJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet2:54.90970.1850.0000.0003615Tanner GrayDavid Gilliland RacingFord0.0000.0000.0000.000 Failed to qualify3744Logan BeardenNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2:46.12173.8980.0000.0003841Dawson CramCram Racing EnterprisesChevrolet2:46.47873.7390.0000.0003920Spencer BoydYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2:46.61173.6810.0000.0004072Samuel LecomteCMI MotorsportsChevrolet2:53.12270.9100.0000.0004149John AtwellCMI MotorsportsFord2:54.39670.3920.0000.0004283Brad GrossCMI MotorsportsChevrolet3:03.19367.0110.0000.0004310Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevrolet3:06.40665.8560.0000.000 Official first and second round results Official starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 12 Fin#DriverTeamMakePts138Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord10202Kaz GralaYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet9326Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet8488Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota7599Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota6632Sam MayerBret Holmes RacingChevrolet5752Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota484John Hunter NemechekKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota392Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet21056Timmy HillHill MotorsportsChevrolet1 Stage 2 Laps: 14 Fin#DriverTeamMakePts199Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota10288Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota9319Derek KrausMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingToyota842Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet7526Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet6602Kaz GralaYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet5745Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet4832Sam MayerBret Holmes RacingChevrolet3938Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord21011Camden MurphySpencer Davis MotorsportsChevrolet1 Stage 3 Laps: 15 FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1538Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord418running522202Kaz GralaYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet4111running493126Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet414running484239Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet410running33532Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet4114running4162132Sam MayerBret Holmes RacingChevrolet410running3971742Carson HocevarNiece MotorsportsChevrolet410running3081521Zane SmithGMS RacingChevrolet410running299916Austin HillHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota410running28101199Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota413running43112666Paul MenardThorSport RacingToyota410running261264John Hunter NemechekKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota410running28131375Parker KligermanHenderson MotorsportsChevrolet410running2414281Hailie DeeganDavid Gilliland RacingFord410running2315488Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota411running38162922Austin Wayne SelfAM RacingChevrolet410running21171652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota410running2418851Parker ChaseKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota410running19192411Camden MurphySpencer Davis MotorsportsChevrolet410running19201240Ryan TruexNiece MotorsportsChevrolet410running17211919Derek KrausMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingToyota410running24222713Johnny SauterThorSport RacingToyota410running15233234Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingToyota410running14242256Timmy HillHill MotorsportsChevrolet410running14253012Tate FoglemanYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet410running12261445Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet410running15273123Chase PurdyGMS RacingChevrolet410running10283324Jack WoodGMS RacingChevrolet410running9292530Michele AbbateOn Point MotorsportsToyota410running8303404Cory RoperRoper RacingFord410running7313615Tanner GrayDavid Gilliland RacingFord400running6321825Timothy PetersRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet400running5332018Chandler SmithKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota390running434353Roger ReuseJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet380running3351098Christian EckesThorSport RacingToyota360suspension236733Cameron LawrenceReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet340running1 Official race results
References