For the first time ever, the NASCAR Cup Series will head to the Circuit of the Americas down in Austin Texas for the 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. This is a road course with a total of 20 turns and measured elevation changes equal to 130 feet. Who gets to take the checkered flag this weekend? Check out our preview of this race below.
People are still waiting for Elliott to snatch a win this season. But even though he’s been winless so far, Elliott has been busy of late collecting quality finishes of late, nonetheless. He just placed third in the Drydene 400 to extend this top-10 streak to three starts. Elliott will enter Sunday’s race in Austin with five top 5s and seven top 10s this year. He’s pretty good on road courses, as he has five wins on such tracks in 13 starts. He once had a streak of four wins in a row on road courses, including his victory in the 2020 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
Truex leads all drivers this season with 472 points, thanks in large part to his season-leading three wins to go with five top 5s and eight top 10s. He wasn’t particularly exceptional last week, as he finished just 19th overall at the Dover International Speedway, but he could get his form back this weekend on a road course. In his career, Truex has a total of four wins, 11 top 5s and 17 top 10s in 33 career starts on a road course. Since February of 2018, Truex has collected a pair of wins in nine starts with an average finish of 5.44 on road courses.
Blaney is coming off a 12th-place finish in the Drydene 400, but he’s cracked the top 10 in two of his past five starts. He went ninth in Talladega and eighth at Darlington. What’s more pertinent to his chances of winning this weekend is the fact that he has a career average finish of 13.31 in 13 road course starts, including his win in the 2018 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
There’s nothing exceptional about what DiBenedetto has done lately. But that’s also why he can be considered a sleeper for this weekend’s race. Even though he’s finished 19th and 24th in his last two starts, respectively, DiBenedetto earns a sleeper tag because he recently had a three-race streak of top 10s. Plus, he’s got a pair of top 10s in 15 career starts on road courses.
If you’re looking for a high-value sleeper pick, don’t miss out on Buescher. The Team Roush Fenway Racing driver has three top 10s in 13 starts this season. He’s also finished inside the top 10 in two of his last three starts. At the Daytona Road Course race back in February, Buescher finished 11th, too.
Almirola hasn’t had any luck yet in his career in road course races, as he’s gone 0 of 22 there, dating back to 2008. That being said, he’s managed to sneak into the top 17 in all of his last three starts on a road course. Not too shabby for Almirola.
Writer’s Prediction
Ryan Blaney wins the 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix.
