NASCAR is usually wild, but Sunday’s race added a “wet” equation.
A ton of caution flags, a few wrecks and a red flag stop won’t stop Chase Elliott from winning the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, his sixth career win and his first overall win this year.
Although lightning did not push the start of the race, wet weather on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas caused a host of delays. There were also six DNFs a day, and several other drivers finished the race with damaged cars.
Cole Custer and Martin Truex Jr. took part in the worst wreck of the race, avoiding a major collision due to poor visibility. Custer’s car caught fire after the wreck, but Custer got out of it unscathed.
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Sports news followed the most important events, news and much more from the Sunday rain of the shortened race below (all times east).
NASCAR at COTA: EchoPark Texas Grand Prix results
Unofficial race results:
Position | Driver |
---|---|
1 | Chase Elliott |
2 | Kyle Larson |
3 | Joey Logano |
4 | Ross Chastain |
5 | AJ Allmendinger |
6 | Chse Briscoe |
7 | Michael McDowell |
8 | Alex Bowman |
9 | Tyler Reddick |
10 | Kyle Busch |
11 | William Byron |
12 | AJ Dillon |
13 | Chris Buescher |
14 | Denny Hamlin |
15 | Ryan Preece |
16 | Eric Jones |
17 | Ryan Blaney |
18 | Anthony Alfredo |
19 | Brad Keselowski |
20 | Corey LaJoie |
21 | You’re Dillon |
22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
23 | Matt DiBenedetto |
24 | Ryan Newman |
25 | Austin Cindric |
26 | Aric Almirola |
27 | Kurt Busch |
28 | Garrett Smithley |
29 | James Davison |
30 | Josh Bilicki |
31 | Kyle Tilley |
32 | Cody Ware |
33 | Daniel Suarez |
DNF | Quin Houff |
DNF | Martin Truex Jr. |
DNF | Cole Custer |
DNF | Kevin Harvick |
DNF | Christopher Bell |
DNF | Bubba Wallace |
DNF | Justin Haley |
NASCAR on COTA live updates, highlights from EchoPark Texas Grand Prix
18:30 END: Chase Elliott was awarded the win while NASCAR called the race due to bad weather.
18:25: This session is marked in red due to bad weather.
18:15: Another yellow flag is displayed because of the standing water on the track. It’s raining.
18:08: 16 laps to go and Chase Elliott is in the lead. Kyle Busch pits.
5:51: 23 laps before the race, Ross Chstain is currently leading the field. The course is still a bit wet.
17:38: Busch, Elliott both. Busch has not been in pain since Round 8.
17:33: Busch opened the five-second lead as Tyler Reddick parted ways. No harm done.
17:23: Kyle Busch reopens the lead by restarting in Phase 3. Hopefully there will be no break from here to the checkered flag.
17:09 End of phase 2: Kyle Busch keeps Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric to win on stage. A messy stage.
16:59: We have a green flag with four laps to stage 2. Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric are fighting for the first time.
16:55: The trail looks drier, but not dry.
16:49: The rain seems to be easing a bit, and drivers are now coming out of the pit.
16:40: Drivers start under yellow. Now round 26 and they go down the cave road.
16:31 The track crew scrapes and dries the track. What a total mess.
16:18: The red flag came out after the Custer-Truex incident.
16:15: Truex and Cole Custer are now colliding. Custer’s car catches fire and he gets out quickly. Custer slammed into Truex’s back after Truex hit Michael McDowell. Bad scene.
16:14: Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott are currently your top five. Preece passes Chastaina and he leaves.
16:13: We finally have a restart in Round 25, and serious visibility issues are still happening in the middle. The trail is soaked.
16:02: He is still under caution in the 22nd round, and a lot of vision problems are happening.
15:50: Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace come out with great damage. It is unclear whether they were involved in the same wreck, but not great.
Lots of problems in different places in Coti!
Included are Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney. pic.twitter.com/WnPdlcwvVj
– FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2021
15:47: We are getting ready to restart soon, with a fast car leading the package into phase 2.
15:33 End of phase 1: Joey Logano takes a wet and wild phase 1: plenty of slides, little damage and lots, lots of water.
15:32: Cars that take advantage of extra off-road, but to no avail. The trail is very slippery. William Byron goes into boxing with serious damage to the front right fender.
15:30: The weather is getting really bad now, a lot of cars are missing a turn and moving off the track, Denny Hamlin’s latest victim. Michael McDowell in the lead, a thin lead over Joey Logan.
15:13: Daniel Suarez has trouble transitioning from a neutral position, taking out the first warning flag of the day.
15:09: After Cindric’s flanks, Truex takes the lead. Cindric’s impressive performance on early smooth tires, and he dropped to just seventh place after the pit stop.
15:04: Austin Cindric is currently cooking the field behind him and he is on the spot. Opening an eight-second advantage over Martin Truex. Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. round out the top five.
14:55: It’s raining, and a lot of drivers are coming for rain tires.
14:52: The green flag, and we’re heading to Texas. Austin Cindric took the lead early.
14:48: Many teams come to switch tires from wet to smooth early, just when it starts to rain. Tough decisions for ascent and descent.
14:41: NASCAR considered this race wet, so everyone started on rain tires. They will have a chance to change to slicks on the second pass through the cave path.
14:24: Today, I’m expecting a wet track for NASCAR’s first foray into the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas. Rain is in the forecast the rest of the day.
The beginning of NASCAR today
The green flag for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of Americas, a road about 25 miles southeast of Austin, Texas, should be flown after 2:30 p.m.
Drivers can find themselves in races in difficult weather conditions. The National Weather Service Forecast for the Austin area it requires afternoon showers and thunderstorms and high temperatures in the upper 70s. The meteorological service says there is a 70 percent chance of precipitation.
NASCAR initial setup at COTA
Here is the complete qualifying order for the EchoPark Texas GrandPrix after qualifying Sunday morning:
Start pos. | Driver | Br. Car | Time | Tim |
1 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | 2: 12,911 | Richard Childress Racing |
2 | Kyle Larson | 5 | 2: 13.011 | Hendrick Motorsports |
3 | Austin Cindric | 33 | 2: 13,697 | Team Penske |
4 | Kyle Busch | 18 | 2: 13,708 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
5 | William Byron | 24 | 2: 13,760 | Hendrick Motorsports |
6 | Joey Logano | 22 | 2: 13,791 | Team Penske |
7 | AJ Allmendinger | 16 | 2: 13,842 | Kaulig Racing |
8 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 2: 14.117 | Hendrick Motorsports |
9 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | 2: 14,518 | Team Penske |
10 | Christopher Bell | 20 | 2: 14,548 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
11 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | 2: 14,792 | Stewart-Haas races |
12 | Alex Bowman | 48 | 2: 14,894 | Hendrick Motorsports |
13 | Kurt Busch | 1 | 2: 14,708 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
14 | Cole Custer | 41 | 2: 15,025 | Stewart-Haas races |
15 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | 2: 15.118 | Trackhouse Racing Team |
16 | Austin Dillon | 3 | 2: 15,325 | Richard Childress Racing |
17 | Martin Truex Jr. | 17 | 2: 15,375 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
18 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 2: 15,416 | 23XI Racing |
19 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | 2: 15,528 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
20 | Ross Chastain | 42 | 2: 15,685 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
21 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | 2: 15,852 | The Wood Brothers race |
22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | 2: 15,852 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
23 | Michael McDowell | 34 | 2: 15,902 | The front row of motorsport |
24 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | 2: 15.929 | Team Penske |
25 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | 2: 16,245 | Spire Motorsports |
26 | Aric Almirola | 10 | 2: 16,558 | Stewart-Haas races |
27 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | 2: 16,686 | Stewart-Haas races |
28 | Chris Buescher | 17 | 2: 16,728 | Roush Fenway Racing |
29 | Erik Jones | 43 | 2: 17.032 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
30 | Justin Haley | 77 | 2: 17.051 | Spire Motorsports |
31 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | 2: 17,246 | Rick Ware Racing |
32 | James Davison | 15 | 2: 17,563 | Rick Ware Racing |
33 | You’re Dillon | 96 | 2: 17.682 | Races of the Gaunt brothers |
34 | Ryan Newman | 6 | 2: 18.067 | Roush Fenway Racing |
35 | Cody Ware | 51 | 2: 18,194 | Small product races |
36 | Ryan Preece | 37 | 2: 18,252 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
37 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | 2: 18,701 | The front row of motorsport |
38 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | 2: 18,804 | Rick Ware Racing |
39 | Kyle Tilley | 78 | 2: 20,361 | Enjoy fast motor sports |
40 | Quin Houff | 00 | 2: 20.985 | StarCom Racing |
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