2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix explained

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 3.426-mile (5.514 km) 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 3.426miles 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.^[7] The lower Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series were also added as support events.^[8] On December 11, 2020, it was announced that NASCAR would run the full 3.41 mile course.^[9]

British IMSA driver Kyle Tilley made his NASCAR debut, replacing B. J. McLeod for Live Fast Motorsports.^[10]

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00			Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14	Chase Briscoe (R)		Ford
15			Chevrolet
16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24			Chevrolet
33	Austin Cindric (i)		Ford
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38	Anthony Alfredo (R)		Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	Cody Ware (i)		Chevrolet
52			Ford
53	Garrett Smithley (i)		Ford
77	Justin Haley (i)		Chevrolet
78			Ford
96	Ty Dillon (i)		Toyota
99			Chevrolet
Official 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 77.847mph.^[11]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	24				2:37.694	77.847
2	22				2:38.281	77.558
3	5				2:38.468	77.467
Official 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 92.363mph.^[12]

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
1	8			Chevrolet	2:13.602	2:12.911
2	5			Chevrolet	2:14.192	2:13.011
3	33	Austin Cindric (i)		Ford	2:13.850	2:13.697
4	18			Toyota	2:13.905	2:13.708
5	24			Chevrolet	2:14.127	2:13.760
6	22			Ford	2:13.977	2:13.791
7	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet	2:13.490	2:13.842
8	9			Chevrolet	2:14.352	2:14.117
9	12			Ford	2:14.486	2:14.518
10	20			Toyota	2:14.349	2:14.548
11	4			Ford	2:14.352	2:14.792
12	48			Chevrolet	2:14.578	2:14.894
13	1			Chevrolet	2:14.708	—
14	41			Ford	2:15.025	—
15	99			Chevrolet	2:15.118	—
16	3			Chevrolet	2:15.325	—
17	19			Toyota	2:15.375	—
18	23			Toyota	2:15.416	—
19	11			Toyota	2:15.528	—
20	42			Chevrolet	2:15.685	—
21	21			Ford	2:15.852	—
22	47			Chevrolet	2:15.852	—
23	34			Ford	2:15.902	—
24	2			Ford	2:15.929	—
25	7			Chevrolet	2:16.245	—
26	10			Ford	2:16.558	—
27	14	Chase Briscoe (R)		Ford	2:16.686	—
28	17			Ford	2:16.728	—
29	43			Chevrolet	2:17.032	—
30	77	Justin Haley (i)		Chevrolet	2:17.051	—
31	52			Ford	2:17.246	—
32	15			Chevrolet	2:17.563	—
33	96	Ty Dillon (i)		Toyota	2:17.682	—
34	6			Ford	2:18.067	—
35	51	Cody Ware (i)		Chevrolet	2:18.194	—
36	37			Chevrolet	2:18.252	—
37	38	Anthony Alfredo (R)		Ford	2:18.701	—
38	53	Garrett Smithley (i)		Ford	2:18.804	—
39	78			Ford	2:20.361	—
40	00			Chevrolet	2:20.985	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Tyler Reddick won his first career pole in qualifying. It began to rain on the first lap and all drivers pitted to change from slick tires to treaded rain tires. Kevin Harvick got heavy damage after making contact with Ryan Blaney, which also collected Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace. Joey Logano won the first stage. In the second stage, the rain picked up, and the ensuing spray created visibility issues. In one incident, Martin Truex Jr. got into the back of Michael McDowell and then was rammed into by Cole Custer, severely damaging both cars, and causing Custer's car to catch on fire. Kyle Busch won the second stage. On a round of green flag pit stops, Kyle Larson passed Busch for the lead. Alex Bowman took the lead from Larson and was then passed by Chase Elliott. The race was red flagged again due to heavier rain and was called official with 14 laps to go. Elliott was awarded the win, giving Chevrolet its 800th win in NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports its 268th win, tying Petty Enterprises for the most wins by team in NASCAR history.

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 15

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	9
3	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	33	Austin Cindric (i)	Team Penske	Ford	0
6	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	5
7	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 17

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	33	Austin Cindric (i)	Team Penske	Ford	0
5	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	0
9	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 36

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	8	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	49
2	2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	47
3	6	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	54	44
4	20	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	54	36
5	7	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	54	0
6	27	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	54	37
7	23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	54	39
8	12	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	30
9	1	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	54	36
10	4	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	54	39
11	5	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	26
12	16	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	54	25
13	28	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	54	29
14	19	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	54	23
15	36	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	54	26
16	29	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	21
17	9	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	54	20
18	37	38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	54	19
19	24	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	54	18
20	25	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	54	23
21	33	96	Ty Dillon (i)	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	54	0
22	22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	54	15
23	21	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	54	15
24	34	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	54	13
25	3	33	Austin Cindric (i)	Team Penske	Ford	54	0
26	26	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	54	11
27	13	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	54	18
28	38	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	54	0
29	32	15	James Davison	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	54	8
30	31	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	54	7
31	39	78	Kyle Tilley	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	54	6
32	35	51	Cody Ware (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Chevrolet	53	0
33	15	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	46	4
34	40	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	38	3
35	17	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	24	2
36	14	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	24	1
37	11	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	19	1
38	10	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	18	1
39	18	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	18	1
40	30	77	Justin Haley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	12	0
Official 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: 59.024mph

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.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021 schedule . Jayski.com. . April 14, 2021.
2. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 17, 2021. May 17, 2021.
3. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. May 22, 2021. May 22, 2021.
4. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. May 23, 2021. May 23, 2021.
5. Web site: Texas Grand Prix Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. May 23, 2021. May 23, 2021.
6. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 23, 2021. May 23, 2021.
7. News: Circuit of the Americas to host Cup for first time in 2021. Dustin. Long. September 30, 2020.
8. Crandall. Kelly. Xfinity and Trucks to join Cup Series at COTA. Racer. October 24, 2020. November 20, 2020.
9. Utter. Jim. NASCAR opts for F1 track layout for Circuit of the Americas round. Racer. December 11, 2020. January 3, 2021.
10. Web site: Kyle Tilley to run four Cup races for Live Fast Motorsports . . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC . May 11, 2021.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. William Byron tops wild and wet NASCAR Cup practice at COTA. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. May 22, 2021. Austin, Texas. May 22, 2021.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Tyler Reddick takes surprise NASCAR Cup Series pole at COTA. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. May 23, 2021. Austin, Texas. May 23, 2021.