2 months agoAlthough Ross Chastain tends to struggle at many of the other road courses (particularly the rovals), he has consistently been a master at the Circuit of the Americas, where he now has a career average finish of 4.0 despite posting his worst-ever finish of seventh in the race on Sunday. Although Chastain faded in the second half of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, he was very strong overall, as he passed William Byron for the lead on a lap 34 restart (making him the first driver to pass Byron for the lead all season) before Byron retook the lead on lap 44 shortly before both drivers pitted. Chastain outran his finishing position somewhat, as he ranked fourth in average running position, fifth in speed, and sixth in driver rating, giving him probably his best run of the season to date.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoChristopher Bell used an offbeat pit strategy to his advantage and finish second at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday. While most drivers pitted immediately before the pits closed in Stages 1 and 2 so they would inherit the lead after the erstwhile leaders pitted under caution, Bell waited until Stage 2 to ensure he would only need two pit stops. Although William Byron passed Bell early in Stage 2, Bell went on a furious final stint in the final Stage, including setting the race's fastest lap on lap 51, to slice his deficit from over fifteen seconds to less than one second at the end; he ranked second to his teammate Ty Gibbs in speed. The race did not come without controversy, though, as he spun out Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch early in the race. Busch confronted him after the event, but that shouldn't take away from Bell's electrifying final stint.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months ago23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick finished in the fifth position during Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. During Sunday's race at COTA, Reddick was expected to compete as one of the favorites and ran in the Top 5 through the first stage. Although pit strategy would shuffle him through the field and score stage points at the end of the first stage, Reddick steadily ran around the Top 5 most of the day until the end. Reddick led one lap and remains as one of only three drivers to collect top-10 finishes in each COTA race while gathering his third consecutive top-5 finish at the site this week. The driver of the No. 45 Toyota now has three top-10 finishes this season and led in each of the last four Cup events. As the Cup Series next heads to Richmond, Reddick is searching for his first top-10 finish there despite leading 81 laps and winning the first stage in his last appearance there.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoIn Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Chase Elliott placed 16th after an underwhelming performance. Although the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet started from the Top 10, he would struggle to remain there and did not capture any stage points. Despite running between the Top 15 and towards the latter part of the Top 10 most of the day, Elliott would catch a penalty for cutting the course on lap 39. Despite making up some of the track position, Elliott would never fully recover, reaching as high as the Top 15 before fading to 16th, his worst finish at COTA in three starts. With a lackluster finish for NASCAR's active wins leader at road courses, Elliott remains one of only three drivers to place in the Top 20 after all six races so far this year. Elliott will look to rebound at Richmond, where he finished in the Top 15 in each of the last 11 Cup events there.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoDuring qualifying for Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Kyle Larson gained a starting position of 15th, his lowest start position yet at COTA. In three COTA starts, Larson has mixed results, finishing second, 29th, and 14th, respectively. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, however, did participate in this week's Xfinity Series race at COTA, where he ran well and won the race on a last-lap pass on Austin Hill and Shane Van Gisbergen. Larson is the current Cup Series points leader with one win and two top-5 finishes while leading four of the five Cup events so far. In practice, Larson was one of the fastest drivers in the field as he was among the top 10 fastest in every category on speed, and he scored the best overall lap average. Larson is one of the optimal DFS options of the week as he has great place differential upside with a car capable of competing for the win based on practice.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoIn qualifying for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Denny Hamlin racked up a starting position of eighth, matching his best starting position at the site from 2022. In three races at COTA, Hamlin's best finish was 14th, while he scored three top-20 finishes. After five races so far this season, Hamlin has three finishes of 11th or better, including a win at Bristol. The driver of the No. 11 has been competitive through all races so far this year, as he led multiple laps in every Cup race so far this season. In practice, Hamlin was considered one of the slowest overall drivers, showcasing speeds outside of the Top 20 in all eligible categories. Despite his hot start to the season and high start position, COTA is one of his worst statistical tracks, and road course racing is Hamlin's weakness in the Cup Series. Hamlin's 2024 performance through the season alone makes him worth consideration, but DFS players should roster him with caution based on his history at road courses and at COTA.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoRick Ware Racing driver Kaz Grala will start this week's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas from the 23rd position. In his only previous COTA start. While driving for The Money Team Racing in 2022, Grala started 31st and placed 26th. In five races so far this season, Grala has two top-20 finishes and collected positive place differential four times. In practice, Grala's single lap time ranked 34th, ranked 22nd in overall lap averages, and ranked 19th in five consecutive lap averages. Based on practice speed and past road course results, Grala is a driver who is a serviceable DFS pick for the price, capable of placing around his starting position.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoShane Van Gisbergen will start 12th in his first Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Sunday's race at COTA will be Van Gisbergen's first of several Cup races scheduled for 2024 as he races full-time in the Xfinity Series. In SVG's two previous Cup Series starts, he scored a win at the Chicago Street Course and finished tenth at the Indianapolis road course. Earlier in the weekend, SVG raced the Xfinity race at COTA, where he led 20 laps, looked dominant, and competed for the win until a last-lap penalty relegated him to a finish of 27th. Van Gisbergen looked fast in pre-race events by displaying top-10 speeds in practice with his overall lap average in particular being ranked eighth of all drivers. With his extensive road racing background as a three-time supercars champion and his equipment, Van Gisbergen could be one to watch on Sunday, especially as a solid DFS play that can place in the Top 10.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoTodd Gilliland will start 26th for this week's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, his highest starting position to date at the Texas road course. In his previous two Cup starts at COTA, Gilliland has two top-20 finishes, including a finish of tenth in last year's Cup event at the site. The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford is also a former Truck Series winner at COTA. Through five races so far this season, Gilliland has one top-20 finish, but he did collect positive place differential in two of the last three Cup events. In practice, displayed speed across a longer run by ranking tenth of all drivers in the five consecutive lap average category. Considering his salary, starting position, equipment, and status as a teammate to road course veteran Michael McDowell, Gilliland makes for a sneaky DFS value play with solid upside to consider.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoIn qualifying for Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, William Byron scored the pole position, the 13th of his Cup career, and his second consecutive pole at Circuit of the Americas. Through three previous Cup races at COTA, last year was Byron's best performance at the site, where he led 28 laps from the pole position before his best career finish of fifth. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet also never finished worse than 12th in his Cup career at the Texas road course. After five races so far this season, Byron has two top-10 finishes, including a win in this year's Daytona 500. Byron showed plenty of speed in pre-race events as during practice, he also had the fastest single lap of all drivers and had the fourth-best overall lap average. Similarly to last year, Byron should be expected to lead laps right from the beginning and be one of the top favorites to compete for the win at COTA this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoJoe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell will start this week's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas from the fourth position. The starting position is Bell's highest starting position yet at a COTA Cup race and will mark the third time he will start a Cup
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2 months agoThe path to victory lane at Circuit of the Americas is likely going to go through Tyler Reddick this weekend. The 23XI Racing driver is the defending Cup Series winner here in Austin, Texas and is and elite road course racer overall. Reddick put on a dominating display here at COTA last season, leading 41 laps after starting second. He qualified third for this weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Reddick has won three of the last nine road course races in the NASCAR Cup Series and has just one result worse than eighth over that same time span. He should run up front for most of the day at COTA on Sunday. Sportsbooks have pegged Reddick as the driver to beat this weekend, as he is at 4-to-1 odds at most books.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Action Network
2 months agoTy Gibbs has been knocking on the door of his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory for a while now, and it just might come this weekend at Circuit of the Americas. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was second-fastest in practice for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix this weekend and followed that up by qualifying second for Sunday's race as well. Gibbs raced here last season for the first time in NASCAR's top series and walked away with a ninth-place result after starting back in 17th. Most sportsbooks have made Gibbs the co-favorite to win at COTA on Sunday alongside another Toyota Racing driver, Tyler Reddick. Last season, Gibbs ended the season strong on the road courses with a fourth-place finish at the Charlotte ROVAL and a fifth-place finish at Watkins Glen.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2 months agoIt's hard to believe, but Chase Elliott is currently on a 14-race winless streak on road courses. The last time NASCAR's most popular driver ended up in victory lane on this track type was back in 2021 at Road America. With that being said, Chase has still been one of the best road course racers over that winless time span, as he has had the best average running position (9.97) and the third-best average finish (10.2) on this track type over the last two seasons. This weekend, Elliott will start the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from ninth. He came home with a fourth-place finish in the 2022 race at COTA and there's no reason why Chase can't contend for another top-five result this weekend. If he's in the right place at the right time late, Elliott could even snap his winless streak in Austin on Sunday. He won the first-ever Cup Series race at this track back in 2021.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
2 months agoFor most of Bubba Wallace's career, road courses were his Achilles heel, but he's been getting better at them. At COTA last year, Wallace ranked second in practice to his teammate Tyler Reddick for quite a while. Although he only qualified 11th and crashed in the race, his speed that weekend was the most he'd ever shown on a road course. In the last three road course races of 2023, Wallace finished 18th at Indianapolis, 12th at Watkins Glen, and 16th at Charlotte (where he had his best road course start of 4th), so he's been trending upward. His top ten start this weekend at Circuit of the Americas indicates likewise, even though he botched his final qualifying run and registered the second slowest time. Given that the Toyotas seem to be fastest this year and Wallace should get good setup notes from Reddick, he might be poised for his best road course performance yet.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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