Nascar hits the road and takes over Austin this weekend, Sunday, March 27, 2022, for the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The Circuit of the Americas race is run on the 3.4-mile track, with the race length being 68 laps for a total of 231 miles. The inspiration for COTA is a compilation of some of the great road courses of auto racing. For a look at potentially friendly points spreads this Sunday, read further.
In the inaugural event in Austin in 2021, Chase Elliott exerted his dominance on the road courses by taking the checkered flag in the rain-shortened event. During his 19 career starts on road courses, he has won seven of them for a 36.8% winning percentage. He is the odds-on favorite this week in the Circuit of the America’s race with a +300. Elliott’s last two race wins have come on road courses, COTA and Road America. As the current point-standings leader, Elliott does not have a win yet this season and looks to end that early-season drought Sunday.
Coming in second to Elliott regarding the winning odds is the Cup Series defending season champion (and Elliott’s teammate with Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Larson, at +400. Much has been said about Elliott’s abilities on the courses throughout his career, but consider this: Larson was in the hunt last year at the Circuit of the Americas race, and if not for the race being shortened due to rain, Larson believes he would have beaten Elliott to the checkered flag. Larson has won three of the last six road-course races as well as the second-place finish to Elliott in Austin.
If you’re the kind of bettor that likes to bet against the Cup Series odds, then look no further than Ross Chastain this weekend. As your NASCAR betting guide, be sure to consider Ross. Over the last three races, he has put together an incredible streak of top-three finishes with a third-place finish in Las Vegas, a second in Phoenix, and another second last week in Atlanta. This lands him in 10th place to start the season. What about his road course abilities? He finished in fourth place in 2021 at COTA in the rain and also had solid finishes of seventh at Sonoma and 12th at Watkins Glen. With Circuit of the Americas odds of +2500, Chastain is definitely worth a longshot look in this one.
AJ Allmendinger (+1600) also has solid finishes on road courses throughout his career. Allmendinger finished in the top five in last year’s COTA event and put other drivers on notice that he’s still able to win on the Cup Series road courses with a win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He has two road course wins on his resume in the Cup Series and six in the Xfinity Series. Look for him to be in the hunt in the last stage this year.
With clear weather expected, the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix Circuit of the Americas race looks to be an exciting one to watch. The Next-Gen car makes the already new information on the track obsolete with only one race under their belts here. There are a handful of drivers with solid road course experience and results that look to finish atop the COTA podium.
