Chase Elliott Wins Rainy Race at COTA

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

AUSTIN, TX – RIS – NASCAR’s first trip to the Circuit of the Americas was a wet affair.  At times it poured the rain, water pooled on the track, and dangerous accidents were the result.  Since traditional road racing runs in the wet conditions, that is what the drivers did.  Unfortunately, the race had to be stopped 14 laps short of the advertised distance with Chase Elliott in the lead.  The so-called road ace was declared the winner when it was impossible to continue.

"Couldn't be more excited. I've never won a rain race before, so it's kind of cool," Elliott said. "Just super proud of our team for just continuing to fight. We kind of started the day and weren't very good, and just kept pushing myself, kept making some good changes throughout the day, and got to where I thought we were on pace with those guys there at the end. So really proud of that."

Elliott’s HMS teammate, Kyle Larson, finished second. Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, and Xfinity Series full-timer AJ Allmendinger completed the top five finishers.

Throughout the afternoon, steady rain impacted the race. That and poor visibility helped lead to two heavy accidents and an initial red-flag period in Stage 2.

Off the Lap 19 restart, Christopher Bell ran into the back of Ryan Blaney on the backstretch, which sent Blaney off at Turn 12. Trailing behind, Kevin Harvick was told to check up, only for Bubba Wallace to hit him from behind. Bell, Wallace, and Harvick were eliminated from the race, but no one was injured.

Harvick was blunt afterwards.

“We don’t have any business being out in the rain, period,” he said. “All I can say is this is the worst decision that we’ve ever made in our sport that I’ve been a part of, and I’ve never felt more unsafe in my whole racing career, period.”

Off the next restart at Lap 25, Michael McDowell had to check up on the backstretch, which led to Martin Truex Jr. running into him. Cole Custer then hit Truex and sent him briefly airborne before slamming into a barrier himself. Both drivers were eliminated from the race, but no one was injured. The incident red-flagged the race for 20 minutes, 53 seconds. Following the red flag, NASCAR allowed teams to clean their cars’ windshields on pit road. Additionally, all restarts were single file for the race’s remainder.

Elliott has now won five of the last six and six of the last nine road course races.

Chastain’s fourth-place finish is a career-best for him in Cup.  Chase Briscoe‘s sixth-place finish is his first top 10 in Cup. Allmendinger’s top five completed a solid “Double Duty” weekend that included a second-place finish in Saturday’s Xfinity race. Pole sitter Tyler Reddick recovered from a spin at Lap 39 to finish ninth.

The Cup Series now heads back home to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the customary 600-mile Memorial Day weekend marathon that used to be called the World 600.  Just hope that it doesn’t rain.

Unofficial Results: Inaugural EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix, May 23, 2021, Circuit of The Americas - Austin, TX - 3.41 - Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Tms Led, Laps Led, St1, St1Pts, St2, St2Pts, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Llumar Chevrolet, 54, 1, 5, , 0, 2, 9, 5, 49, Running
2) 2, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 54, 1, 4, 4, 7, 6, 5, , 47, Running
3) 6, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 54, 1, 14, 1, 10, , 0, 1, 44, Running
4) 20, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 54, 2, 4, 8, 3, , 0, , 36, Running
5) 7, * AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, 8, 0, , 0, Running
6) 27, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 54, , , 7, 4, 9, 2, , 37, Running
7) 23, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Outwest Express Ford, 54, 1, 3, 2, 9, , 0, , 39, Running
8) 12, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 54, 1, 3, , 0, 10, 1, , 30, Running
9) 1, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar's Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, 3, 8, , 36, Running
10) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Mix Toyota, 54, 1, 12, 9, 2, 1, 10, 1, 39, Running
11) 5, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 26, Running
12) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Workrise Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 25, Running
13) 28, Chris Buescher, No. 17 autoTempest Ford, 54, , , 6, 5, , 0, , 29, Running
14) 19, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 23, Running
15) 36, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 54, 1, 2, , 0, 7, 4, , 26, Running
16) 29, Erik Jones, No. 43 Black Entrepreneur Initiative Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 21, Running
17) 9, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 20, Running
18) 37, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 MDS Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 19, Running
19) 24, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Thomas Built Buses Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 18, Running
20) 25, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, 5, 6, , 23, Running
21) 33, * Ty Dillon(i), No. 96 Bass Pro Shops/Black Rifle Coffee Toyota, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, Running
22) 22, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 15, Running
23) 21, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford, 54, , , 10, 1, , 0, , 15, Running
24) 34, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 13, Running
25) 3, * Austin Cindric(i), No. 33 Pirtek Ford, 54, 1, 4, 5, 0, 4, 0, , 0, Running
26) 26, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 11, Running
27) 13, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 54, , , 3, 8, , 0, , 18, Running
28) 38, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 53 Jacob Companies Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, Running
29) 32, James Davison, No. 15 Skip Barber Racing School Chevrolet, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 8, Running
30) 31, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Junction Fuels Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 7, Running
31) 39, Kyle Tilley, No. 78 Bremont/Battle Associates Ford, 54, , , , 0, , 0, , 6, Running
32) 35, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 53, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, Running
33) 15, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet, 46, , , , 0, , 0, , 4, Running
34) 40, Quin Houff, No. 00 Mane 'n Tail/Spirit Untamed Chevrolet, 38, , , , 0, , 0, , 3, DVP
35) 17, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Toyota, 24, 1, 3, , 0, , 0, , 2, Accident
36) 14, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 24, , , , 0, , 0, , 1, Accident
37) 11, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil1Thousand.com Ford, 19, , , , 0, , 0, , 1, Accident
38) 10, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota, 18, , , , 0, , 0, , 1, Accident
39) 18, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota, 18, , , , 0, , 0, , 1, Accident
40) 30, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet, 12, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, Steering
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) Rookie

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 7 Mins, 11 Secs.
Race Length: 54 Laps, 184.14 Miles
Average Speed: 59.024 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 34, 1, 5, 33, 17, 14, 42, 18, 21
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 9, 8, 33, 7, 5, 37, 16, 14, 48

Comments: Chase Elliott won the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix, his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 2, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 38, 43, 51 and 99 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 6 for 14 laps;
Laps: 9-9 (No. 99 Stalled on Track [None]);
17-18 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
20-24 (No. 4, 12, 20, 23, 47 Incident on the Backstretch [99]);
26-28 (No. 19 and 41 Incident on the Backstretch [Red: 20:54] [99]);
34-35 (Stage 2 Conclusion [99]);
54-54 (Inclement Weather/Visibility [78]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 10 drivers;
T. Reddick 0;
A. Cindric(i) 1-4;
M. Truex Jr. 5-7;
M. McDowell 8-10;
J. Logano 11-24;
R. Chastain 25-26;
R. Preece 27-28;
K. Busch 29-40;
K. Larson 41-44;
R. Chastain 45-46;
A. Bowman 47-49;
C. Elliott 50-54.

Busch Pole Award: Tyler Reddick, No. 8 92.363 mph
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Chase Briscoe, No. 14