NASCAR explains delay in assessing penalty to Kyle Busch at Richmond

By Dustin LongApr 5, 2022, 12:43 PM EDT

A NASCAR official explained Tuesday why it took more than 200 laps to assess a penalty to Kyle Busch’s team for having tape on the front grille of the car last weekend at Richmond Raceway.

Brad Moran, Cup series managing director, gave the explanation to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Busch was penalized on Lap 345 of the 400-lap race for having tape on the grille. Moran said Tuesday that the infraction happened when Busch pitted on Lap 128.

So why did it take so long to issue the penalty?

Moran said the tower was notified of the possible infraction on Lap 234 — more than 100 laps after the infraction happened — by a pit road official and officials had to discover how the tape ended up on the grille.

“We certainly needed to do our due diligence on how it got there, what it really was,” Moran told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “So we went back while the race was going on and did our due diligence to ensure, first of all, that the team placed the tape on the grille area.

“We did go back, found footage, found what we needed to say, yes, the team actually put it on. Unfortunately, they had a couple of stops, which they could have pulled it off and we probably wouldn’t even be talking about it today. That didn’t happen.

“We got notification around Lap 234 and it took a bit of time, obviously a lot of green-flag racing at a three-quarter mile track. It takes a while to pull all of that up and we do our due diligence.

“The last thing we’re going to do is bring a vehicle down and find out later that it was something picked up off the track or they grabbed it on pit road or something to that fact. Once everything was sorted out, we did see how it happened and where it was and the crew chief was notified that it has to be removed.”

ICYMI: @NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran was asked about the @JoeGibbsRacing #18 team's black flag on Sunday at @RichmondRaceway and offered the sanctioning bodies perspective.@TheMikeBagley | @PPistone | #TMDNASCAR pic.twitter.com/IJU0WKy9Mx

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 5, 2022

COTA Truck race results: Zane Smith wins

By Dustin LongMar 25, 2023, 4:09 PM EDT

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images

Reigning series champion Zane Smith won Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas for the second year in a row.

The victory is Smith’s second of this year.

MORE: COTA Truck race results

Kyle Busch finished second and was followed by Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum and Ross Chastain.

The key moment came when Parker Kligerman‘s truck came to a stop on the frontstretch at Lap 28. Smith, running second, made it to pit road before it was closed. Busch, who was leading, had already passed pit road entrance.

Smith gained the lead with the move, while Busch had to pit under the caution and restarted 16th. Smith was able to build a lead and beat Busch by 5.4 seconds.

Stage 1 winner: Christian Eckes

Stage 2 winner: Kyle Busch

Who had a good race: Ty Majeski’s third-place finish is his best of the season. … Tyler Ankrum’s fourth-place finish is his best of the year. … Corey Heim has finished sixth two races in a row. … Rookie Nick Sanchez finished seventh, giving him back-to-back top 10s.

Who had a bad race: Parker Kligerman was running third when electrical issues forced him to stop on track just after the end of the second stage. … After winning the first stage, Christian Eckes had mechanical issues and had to pit for repairs, costing him several laps.

Notable: Front Row Motorsports has won the Truck COTA race all three years. Todd Gilliland won the race in 2021 and Zane Smith has won it the past two years.

Next: The series races April 1 at Texas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1).

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series XPEL 225 — *COTA winner Zane Smith’s truck catches fire after he did his burnout on the frontstretch. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)*

COTA Cup starting lineup

By Dustin LongMar 25, 2023, 1:05 PM EDT

Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, who has won two of the first five races of the season, will lead the Cup field to the green flag Sunday at Circuit of the Americas.

Byron will be joined on the front row of the starting lineup by Tyler Reddick, the only driver to win multiple races at road courses last year.

MORE: COTA Cup starting lineup

Austin Cindric starts third and is joined in the second row by Jordan Taylor, who is filling in for the injured Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick car.

Taylor’s performance is the best qualifying effort by a driver making their Cup debut since Boris Said started second in his Cup debut at Watkins Glen in 1999.

William Byron wins Cup pole at COTA

By Dustin LongMar 25, 2023, 12:52 PM EDT

William Byron will start on the pole for Sunday’s Cup race at Circuit of the Americas.

Byron won the pole with a lap of 93.882 mph around the 3.41-mile road course Saturday. He becomes the first Cup driver to win a pole at four different road courses: Charlotte Roval (2019), Road America (2021), Indianapolis road course (2021) and COTA (2023).

MORE: COTA Cup starting lineup

Byron will be joined on the front row by Tyler Reddick, who had posted the fastest lap in Friday’s practice and fastest lap in the opening round of qualifying Saturday. Reddick qualified at 93.783 mph.

Austin Cindric (93.459 mph) qualified third. Former IMSA champion Jordan Taylor, substituting for an injured Chase Elliott in the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports, qualified fourth with a lap of 93.174 mph. AJ Allmendinger (93.067) will start fifth.

Taylor’s performance is the best qualifying effort by a driver making their Cup debut since Boris Said started second in his Cup debut at Watkins Glen in 1999.

Ross Chastain, who won this event a year ago, qualified 12th. Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen qualified 22nd, former world champion Jenson Button qualified 24th, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 31st and IndyCar driver Conor Daly qualified 35th.

I see you @jordan10taylor

Killer lap 🫡

— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) March 25, 2023

Sunday Cup race at Circuit of the Americas: Start time, TV info, weather

By Dustin LongMar 25, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT

Is this Toyota’s weekend?

Chevrolet won the first four races of the season. Ford won last weekend with Joey Logano at Atlanta. Is it Toyota’s turn to win its first Cup race of the season? Or does Chevrolet return to dominance?

Chevrolet drivers have won 11 of the past 12 Cup races on road courses. The exception was Christopher Bell‘s win for Toyota at the Charlotte Roval in last year’s playoffs. Chevrolets have won the two previous Cup races at COTA: Chase Elliott in 2021 and Ross Chastain in 2022.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at Circuit of the Americas

(All times Eastern)

START: Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard in “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+, will give the command to start engines at 3:38 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:49 p.m.

PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 12:30 p.m. … Drivers meeting at 2:45 p.m. … Driver introductions at 3:05 p.m. … Invocation will be given by Sage Steele, ESPN broadcaster, at 3:30 p.m. … Jaime Camil, actor from “Schmigadoon” on Apple TV+, will perform the national anthem at 3:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 68 laps (231.88 miles) on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 15. Stage 2 ends at Lap 30.

TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. Pre-race coverage begins at 2 p.m. on FS1 and moves to Fox at 3 p.m. … Performance Racing Network’s radio coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and will also stream at goprn.com; SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Fox Sports

FORECAST: Weather Underground – Mostly cloudy with a high of 80 degrees and a 2% chance of rain at the start of the race.

STARTING LINEUP: COTA Cup starting lineup

LAST YEAR: Ross Chastain scored his first career Cup win in a physical battle with AJ Allmendinger on the final lap. Alex Bowman finished second. Christopher Bell placed third.

CATCH UP ON NBC SPORTS COVERAGE:

Friday 5: What to do about lack of respect on the track?

Dr. Diandra: With Chase Elliott out, these are the best Next Gen road racers

Drivers to watch at COTA

North Wilkesboro’s racing surface will prove challenging to drivers

NASCAR Power Rankings: Christopher Bell is new No. 1