Predictions for an atypical race at COTA

Sunday's race at COTA (Circuit of The Americas) in Austin, Texas will be the first road course round of the 2023 season. NASCAR Cup Series. The opportunity for certain drivers to showcase themselves. The big names on ovals, the majority in NASCAR, may in fact not be as dominant when it comes to turning left and right alternately on the same lap.

Final in close racing in 2022 between Chastain and Allmendinger © Logan Riely/Getty Images

AJ Allmendinger and Tyler Reddick are the two most prominent drivers in the last 4 road events, Allmendinger, with his wealth of experience in Indycar, had four Top 10 finishes and Reddick won two of those four rounds at Indianapolis and Road America. An underdog like Chris Buescher, who remains on a running streak of five top-10 finishes on road courses, could just as easily find himself on Victory Lane on Sunday.

A new watermelon for Ross “Watermelon” Chastain? © Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Here is a list of other drivers to watch on Sunday:

Ross Chastain: He won the COTA last year after a fierce battle with Allmendinger which only ended in the last corner.

Alex Bowman: Bowman is one of four drivers to have finished in the Top 10 in two races held at COTA in 2021 and 2022. Chastain, Reddick and Chase Elliott are the others.

Kyle Busch: With Elliott out due to injury, Busch is tied with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. for the most road course victories for an active driver.

Tyler Reddick: The 23XI Racing driver has the best road course finish average among active drivers at 12,93 over his last 15 starts.

Kyle Larson: He holds the record for road race victories in a season with three successes in 2021.

Kevin Harvick: “Happy” Harvick seems liberated since he announced his retirement at the end of the season. The Californian is not a specialist on road circuits, he has already won at Sonoma and Watkins Glen and remains in a good second place at the Roval in Charlotte last year.

Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen: Above all for the pleasure of seeing them create a huge surprise on Sunday. But their rich experience of competition and their knowledge of this circuit does not make the idea of ​​seeing them sign a great performance absurd.

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