The 2023 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 24, 2023, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it will be the 30th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, fourth race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 12.
Report
Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. (P) denotes playoff driver. (OP) denotes owner’s playoffs car.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Michael McDowell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.068 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.068 185.771 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.069 185.765 3 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.096 185.593 Official practice results
Qualifying Bubba Wallace scored the pole for the race with a time 28.672 of and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 28.567 28.672 2 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 28.714 28.711 3 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 28.880 28.740 4 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.695 28.760 5 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 28.639 28.769 6 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 28.848 28.823 7 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.854 28.885 8 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 28.881 28.885 9 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.820 28.893 10 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.585 0.000 11 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.718 — 12 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 28.772 — 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.797 — 14 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.800 — 15 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 28.832 — 16 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.900 — 17 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.944 — 18 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.970 — 19 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 29.006 — 20 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.010 — 21 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.026 — 22 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.091 — 23 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 29.097 — 24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.110 — 25 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.117 — 26 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 29.156 — 27 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 29.185 — 28 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 29.187 — 29 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.220 — 30 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29.231 — 31 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.232 — 32 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 29.277 — 33 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.316 — 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 29.423 — 35 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 29.555 — 36 51 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 29.571 —Official qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 102 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 93 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 66 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 48 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 85
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 102 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 93 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 75 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 66 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 48 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 39 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 210 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 102
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 18 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 472 5 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 267 383 1 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 267 374 9 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 415 10 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 426 22 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 317 3 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 267 348 8 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 267 309 24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 267 2810 31 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 3011 29 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 3612 14 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 2513 28 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 267 2414 2 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 267 3815 17 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 267 2816 19 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 267 017 16 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 2018 21 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 1919 26 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 267 1820 30 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 1721 20 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 1622 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 267 023 25 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 1424 33 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 267 025 15 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 267 2226 27 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 262 1127 32 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 261 1028 23 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 258 2029 6 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 255 830 12 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 255 1631 11 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 248 1632 35 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 241 033 4 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 77 434 7 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 72 335 36 51 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 52 236 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 40 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 22 among 13 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 11 for 55 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 28 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
USABooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Rick AllenColor-commentator: Jeff BurtonColor-commentator: Steve LetarteColor-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dave BurnsKim CoonMarty Snider
Radio PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow covered the action for PRN when the field races down the front straightaway. Nick Yeoman covered the action for PRN from a platform outside of Turns 1 & 2, & Mark Jaynes covered the action from a platform outside of Turns 3 & 4 for PRN. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini had the call from pit lane for PRN.
PRN Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Turns 1 & 2: Nick YeomanTurns 3 & 4: Mark Jaynes Brad GillieBrett McMillanWendy Venturini
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 William Byron 3,083 1 2 Denny Hamlin 3,074 (–9) 2 3 Chris Buescher 3,059 (–24) 3 4 Christopher Bell 3,057 (–26) 3 5 Martin Truex Jr. 3,056 (–27) 3 6 Ross Chastain 3,049 (–34) 3 7 Brad Keselowski 3,045 (–38) 4 8 Kyle Larson 3,039 (–44) 3 9 Bubba Wallace 3,037 (–46) 2 10 Tyler Reddick 3,036 (–47) 11 Ryan Blaney 3,028 (–55) 6 12 Kyle Busch 3,022 (–61) 1 13 Kevin Harvick 2,102 (–981) 1 14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2,096 (–987) 2 15 Joey Logano 2,087 (–996) 16 Michael McDowell 2,087 (–996)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,110 2 Toyota 1,042 (–68) 3 Ford 1,025 (–85)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References