New Roads, New Challenges: NASCAR battles on COTA National Course for the first time
The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NASCAR COTA race weekend will feature the National Course, instead of the Grand Prix Circuit, which Formula 1 races on for the United States Grand Prix in October.
It's a new challenge, but the best stock car drivers in the world will be ready for it.
Here's what to know about the different layout for the NASCAR COTA race.
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The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 2 at COTA in Austin, Texas. The race is set for 68 laps and cover 231.88 miles at the 17-turn multielevational racetrack.
The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix will be broadcast on FOX with Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick in the broadcast booth.
NASCAR will be running the National Course at Circuit of the Americas. The track is 2.3 miles and has 17 turns.
The biggest change is losing turns 7-11 and over a mile on the backstretch from the COTA Grand Prix Circuit. Turn 7 is a long right-hand turn with contrasting left and right-hand corners for turns 8 and 9, ending with a straightaway and a left-hand dogleg for turn 10. At the end of the straightaway, turn 11, a sharp, left-hand hairpin, leads into a long backstretch.
Now, the NASCAR drivers will face two corners with a sharp left-hand turn coming off turn 6 and another slow left-hander leading to the end of the long backstretch. From there, the drivers will have to navigate the technical portion of the circuit with nine more corners before the end of the lap.
'The move to the National Course will make a great race experience even better for our fans with more laps and more action,' Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith said. 'Fans will have more laps to cheer for their favorite driver from the best seats, and the action will come faster with lap times reduced by roughly a minute. The National Course and its new pavement will provide the drivers, teams and crew chiefs with a fresh look and a new challenge after running the Full Course the last four years at COTA.'
Drivers have a whole different challenge to contend with, learning the new layout of the National Course but also running on a full repave the track underwent after last season's NASCAR race weekend.
Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, who won the 2022 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, had the opportunity to run the existing National Course on iRacing, the internet-based racing simulator, and shared his thoughts on what he saw during simulation.
'It's going to be like basically going to a new track, a new town, new area,' said Chastain, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet. 'It flows together nice, and (Turn) 12 (of the Full Course) will really change since we don't have that long backstretch. Once I get to (Turn) 13, though, it's all going to be the same. I'll get my normal speed I was at last year. Gosh, this place is awesome.'
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Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR COTA race using National Course for first time
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