NASCAR is set for a tripleheader at one of the country’s premier road courses this weekend.
The Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck series will head to Circuit of the Americas for the second year in a row, featuring a full slate of racing across the 3.41-mile, 20-turn course that famously plays host to Formula One’s US Grand Prix.
The Truck Series will be the first vehicles to compete with its Saturday race, an event won last year by Todd Gilliland. Corey Heim won last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch, Parker Kligerman and Alex Bowman are among the names on this weekend’s entry list.
Later Saturday afternoon, the Xfinity Series hits the track for its 46-lap race, which was won by Busch a season ago. Bubba Wallace makes his first appearance for Joe Gibbs Racing since 2014, while others like Cole Custer, who won at Auto Club, and Miguel Paludo also return to the series. Ty Gibbs went to Victory Lane last weekend in Atlanta.
Chase Elliott enters COTA as both the defending race winner for the Cup Series and the points leader after a sixth-place finish last weekend. William Byron won at Atlanta to become the fifth different winner in the season’s opening five races.
Austin weekend weather
(Forecasts from Weather Underground)
Friday: Sunny, high of 85 degrees, 0% chance of rain
Saturday: Sunny, high of 87 degrees, 0% chance of rain
Sunday: Mostly sunny, high of 86 degrees, 2% chance of rain
Circuit of the Americas weekend schedule
(All times Eastern)
Friday, March 25
Garage open
Track activity
3 – 3:30 p.m. — Truck practice (all entries, FS1)
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. — Truck qualifying (Groups A and B, FS1)
5 -5:30 p.m. — Xfinity practice (all entries, FS1)
5:30 – 6:30 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (Groups A and B, FS1)
Saturday, March 26
Garage open
7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Cup Series
10 a.m. — Camping World Truck Series
1:30 p.m. — Xfinity Series
Track activity
10 – 11 a.m. — Cup practice (Groups A and B, FS1)
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Cup qualifying (Groups A and B, FS1)
1 p.m. — Truck race (42 laps, 143.22 miles; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
4:30 p.m. — Xfinity race (46 laps, 156.86 miles; FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, March 27
Garage open
Track activity
3:30 p.m. – Cup race (68 laps, 231.88 miles; FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Read more about NASCAR
Drivers to watch for the NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA NASCAR viewer’s guide: Circuit of the Americas NASCAR Power Rankings: Tyler Reddick holds steady after Atlanta
NASCAR weekend schedule: Circuit of the Americas originally appeared on NBCSports.com
