The 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

that was held on May 23, 2021, at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. 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 The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season started at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, wher ...

season.

Report

Background

(COTA) is a grade 1

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

-specification

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

facility located within the

extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the externa ...

. It features a

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

circuit. The facility is home to the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

, and the

Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas The Grand Prix of the Americas, known as the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas for sponsorship reasons, is a Grand Prix motorcycle race that was held for the first time in the 2013 season at the Circuit of the Americas. It became the third Mo ...

, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

, the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

, the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

, and

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

. On September 30, 2020, it was announced that COTA would host a

event for the first time on May 23, 2021. The lower

Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the com ...

and

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

were also added as support events. On December 11, 2020, it was announced that NASCAR would run the full 3.41 mile course. British

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

driver

Kyle Tilley Kyle R. Tilley (born 16 February 1988) is a British professional racing driver. He mainly competes in historic motorsport and sports car racing such as the Historic Formula One Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship; in IMSA, he drives in t ...

made his NASCAR debut, replacing

B. J. McLeod Darwin Benjamin Jerreld "B. J." McLeod Jr. (born November 17, 1983) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner of B. J. McLeod Motorsports and Live Fast Motorsports. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, drivi ...

for

Live Fast Motorsports Live Fast Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is owned by B. J. McLeod, Matt Tifft, and Joe Falk. The team currently fields the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 fo ...

Entry list

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

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 .

Practice results

Qualifying

In a dry track,

Tyler Reddick Tyler George Reddick (born January 11, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...

scored the pole for the race with a time of 2:12.911 and a speed of . 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

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 One ''Laps:'' 15 Stage Two ''Laps:'' 17

Final Stage Results

Stage Three ''Laps:'' 36

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:

Media

Television

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

covered the race on the television side.

Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

and

Clint Bowyer Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...

called the race from the broadcast booth.

Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 I ...

and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side.

Larry McReynolds Lawrence Joseph McReynolds III (born January 10, 1959) is a current NASCAR crew chief and current racing analyst on Fox Sports as well as a columnist on Foxsports.com. In the past, he has served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises, and as a mi ...

provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. *. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

References

{{2021 NASCAR Cup

Texas Grand Prix The Texas Grand Prix, known as the EchoPark Grand Prix, for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Introduced in 2021, the race is one of seven road course dates on the Cup Series s ...

Circuit of the Americas

NASCAR races at Circuit of the Americas