2021 Texas Grand Prix

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.

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 3.426 mi 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. The lower Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series 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 driver Kyle Tilley made his NASCAR debut, replacing B. J. McLeod for Live Fast Motorsports.

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 77.847 mph.

Qualifying
In a dry track, Tyler Reddick scored the pole for the race with a time of 2:12.911 and a speed of 92.363 mph.

Stage 1
The drivers would initially leave pit road on wet tires, but before the green, the majority of the field opted to switch to slicks for the start of the race. Austin Cindric, who started third, would get to the lead in turn one. Pole-sitter Tyler Reddick quickly fell back to fifth on the first lap. Most teams made the decision to pit early to switch back to the wet tires. Cindric on the other hand stayed out and had an impressive drive until he decided to pit for the wet tires. Daniel Suarez had a problem and stalled out to bring out the first caution of the day. Matt DiBenedetto would wheel hop going into a corner and hit William Byron in the process. The incident caused damage to both cars and cut down the left rear tire of Byron’s car. Joey Logano managed to win the first stage.

Stage 2
Joey Logano led the field back to the green for the start of Stage Two. On the first green flag lap of the stage, Ryan Newman spun in the esses, but no caution flew. Later, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney would all take damage in a weird wreck. Bell, Harvick, and Wallace all had their days brought to an end as a result of this wreck. Harvick wasn’t shy about voicing his displeasure either.

On the first lap after the caution, Michael McDowell hit the brakes too soon and Martin Truex Jr. ran into the back of him. Then, Cole Custer hit Truex causing the No. 19 car to go on top of the No. 41! This led to the race being red-flagged to clean up the debris and dry off the track a bit. NASCAR made the call to switch to single-file restarts for the rest of the race. Kyle Busch eventually took the Stage 2 checkered.

Stage 2
Joey Logano led the field back to the green for the start of Stage Two. On the first green flag lap of the stage, Ryan Newman spun in the esses, but no caution flew. Later, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney would all take damage in a weird wreck. Bell, Harvick, and Wallace all had their days brought to an end as a result of this wreck. Harvick wasn’t shy about voicing his displeasure either.

On the first lap after the caution, Michael McDowell hit the brakes too soon and Martin Truex Jr. ran into the back of him. Then, Cole Custer hit Truex causing the No. 19 car to go on top of the No. 41! This led to the race being red-flagged to clean up the debris and dry off the track a bit. NASCAR made the call to switch to single-file restarts for the rest of the race. Kyle Busch eventually took the Stage 2 checkered.

Final stage
The teams started to play the fuel mileage game in the final stage in order to figure out when they needed to pit to make it to the end of the race. Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott were the first to hit pit road on Lap 41. They were told that they would not be able to make it all the way to the end of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on fuel. Ross Chastain was having a solid run until he pitted on Lap 47 and gave up the lead.

Kyle Busch, who was attempting to save fuel, pitted to make sure he could finish the race. He came back out right alongside his brother, Kurt Busch, and Austin Dillon. In probably the closest near miss you will ever see, Kurt Busch missed the turn and somehow avoided both other cars. He kept his car in motion to keep it green.

NASCAR then decided to call a caution due to the amount of standing water on the track. Ultimately, they decided to call the race due to rain and declared Chase Elliott the winner. The win would give Chevrolet manufacturer its 800th NASCAR Cup Series win and the Hendrick Motorsports team its 268th career win. This ties Hendrick with Petty Enterprises for the most by a race team in Cup Series 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: 59.024 mph

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


 * 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.