NASCAR heads to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the first road course race of the season.
This starts a stretch of three consecutive races that teams will use the new short track/road course package that debuted at Phoenix.
Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization heading into the sixth race of the season:
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick is the defending winner at Circuit of the Americas. Kamui Kobayashi returns to make his second career Cup start this weekend. Bad news: Bubba Wallace’s best finish at COTA is 37th.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland finished 10th at COTA last year. Michael McDowell’s most recent win was at the Indianapolis road course last year. McDowell is tied with Joey Logano for best average starting position (6.2) through the first five races of the season. Bad news: Gilliland has one top-20 finish this year.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron has finished first (Watkins Glen) or second (Charlotte Roval) in the two most recent road course races. Chase Elliott’s eighth-place finish at Bristol was his first top 10 in his last nine starts, dating back to last year’s ninth-place finish at the Charlotte Roval. Alex Bowman has placed in the top 10 in all three COTA races. Bad news: Elliott, who has seven career road course wins, is winless in his last 14 starts at road courses.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: The organization has won the past two Cup races with Christopher Bell at Phoenix and Denny Hamlin at Bristol. The team’s four drivers have combined to lead 75% of the laps run in the last two races. Also, Ty Gibbs won the first two stages of his Cup career last weekend at Bristol. Bad news: In three Cup races at COTA, Joe Gibbs Racing has not won and has only one top-five finish — a third-place finish by Bell in 2022.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. placed seventh at COTA last year. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top-10 finish in 36 career Cup road course races.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger is in the No. 13 this weekend and Shane van Gisbergen is in the No. 16, joining Daniel Hemric, who is driving the No. 31, in a three-car effort. Allmendinger won last fall’s Charlotte Roval race, the most recent Cup road course event. In two career Cup starts, van Gisbergen has a win (Chicago Street Race) and a 10th-place finish (Indianapolis road course). Bad news: The organization has only one top-10 finish this year, a sixth-place run by Allmendinger in the Daytona 500.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek is coming off a Cup career-best finish of sixth last week at Bristol. Bad news: Erik Jones has one top-10 finish in his last 11 starts on a road course.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch had three top-three finishes in road course events last season, including a runner-up result at COTA. Bad news: Busch has not finished better than 22nd in the last three Cup races this season.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Placed both cars in the top 20 at Bristol for the first time. Justin Haley was 17th. Kaz Grala finished 19th. Bad news: Did not finish better than 18th in a road course race last year. Jenson Button was 18th at COTA a year ago.
RFK Racing — Good news: Back-to-back top-five finishes has moved Brad Keselowski from 28th to 13th in the points in two races. He scored a race-high 50 points in his third-place finish at Bristol. Chris Buescher had a series-high five top 10s in six road course races last year. Bad news: Keselowski is on a 103-race winless streak.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Spire has had at least one car finish in the top 15 in four of the first five races of the year. Bad news: Since finishing 13th in the Daytona 500, Zane Smith has placed 35th, 36th, 29th and 36th.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Josh Berry scored a season-best 12th-place finish at Bristol, finishing just ahead of teammates Chase Briscoe (13th) and Ryan Preece (14th). Bad news: Team’s last win on a road course was June 2017 at Sonoma by Kevin Harvick.
Team Penske — Good news: Bristol is over. While Ryan Blaney won the pole, he finished 16th. No other Penske driver was in the top 20. Joey Logano was 22nd. Austin Cindric placed 31st. Bad news: Logano’s average finish of 25.0 is his worst through the season’s first five races since 2011.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished no worse than fourth in three races at COTA, winning in 2022 and placing fourth in 2021 and ’23. That gives him an average finish of 3.0 in those races. Trackhouse has won three races on road courses. That’s more wins for the team than at any other style of track on the Cup circuit. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has one top-10 finish this year — his victory at Atlanta.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton’s best career Cup finish came on a road course when he placed third at Indianapolis in 2022. Bad news: Burton has finished 27th or worse in four of the first five races of the year.
