AUSTIN, Texas — The fifth running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix for the NASCAR Cup Series will arrive with a distinctive new look and feel for both drivers and fans at Circuit of The Americas.
The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the season’s third race set for Sunday, March 2, will shift from COTA’s 3.41-mile, 20-turn Full Course layout to the facility’s equally challenging 2.3-mile, 20-turn National Course.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series, which returns to COTA for a fifth season, will also utilize the National Course on Saturday, March 1.
The reconfiguration will eliminate approximately a mile of the backside of the permanent road course’s traditional layout and is expected to shave roughly a minute off lap times based off simulations.
The National Course layout will begin upon exit of the esses section and then return to the traditional course at the tail end of the long backstretch.
Fans will benefit from the race distance being extended from 68 laps to approximately 100 and providing nearly 50 percent more action in front of them than the previous Full Course layout.
Additional modifications may be made to the layout, and the lap total for both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series races will be confirmed as NASCAR finalizes the National Course details.
“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.”
From a driver’s perspective, they will not only have a new layout to master but also contend with the 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 and shared his thoughts of the 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.”