There is a new flavor to Circuit of the Americas this year. NASCAR debuted at the road course back in 2021 in a rain-drenched race that Chase Elliott won. Traditionally, the track sports a 20-turn 3.41-mile full layout that Formula One drivers also use. However, the sanctioning body changed it for this Cup Series season – now drivers will race on a shorter 2.3-mile “national” circuit. Yet Kyle Busch is concerned about other things.

Going into COTA, the Richard Childress Racing driver will seek to snap his 59-race winless streak. Rowdy’s ambitions are strong and sponsors are in place. However, Kyle Busch outlined his concerns about the upcoming race this weekend.

Kyle Busch delves into other problems

Well, the No. 8 RCR driver had a memorable COTA race last year. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell sent Kyle Busch’s car for a spin after a dive-bob move. After clinching a 9th-place result, Busch had a heated exchange with Bell post-race. This year, although Busch has checked his emotions somewhat, the problems are not any less. During the qualifying session for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix race, Kyle Busch secured the 7th-place starting spot. He set a speed of 86.626 mph, and commented, “Obviously, just having fast race cars makes your job a lot easier.” 

However, Kyle Busch also observed how difficult it was to maneuver the Next-Gen car at COTA. Chase Elliott, the 2021 COTA race winner, lost his road course talents after the new car debuted in 2022. Busch said in a recent interview: “It shows you how finicky these damn cars are. A little bit here and a little bit there, and a couple of things…and it’s a completely different race car…You could have the least little thing off and be completely out of control. Can’t tell you the things that we did, but it was just a lot of nobs…fine tweaking them each a little bit.”

Goodyear has introduced a new tire with an updated construction. It has a new compound that emphasizes wear and lap-time falloff. However, Kyle Busch commented that he did not see much difference. “I don’t know that we really wore the tires, more so just built air pressure and started to slide…We ran five laps that were all really consistent in lap time.”

Yet Kyle Busch was not too worried about the revamped track. He said, “Whether you like the old course or not, the shorter course – I get it. I just thought it always was kind of cool that we were on an F1 course…That is a neat factor. I think being in Austin, as long as the fans turn out and fill the stands, it would be better.”

Rowdy is clearly concerned about other factors surrounding the COTA track. However, his rival was a little apprehensive about the physical changes.

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Counting his blessings

Chase Elliott was a formidable road course ace once. Over an 11-race road course stretch from August 2018 to July 2021, the Hendrick Motorsports star accrued seven road course race victories. One of them was NASCAR’s inaugural race at the Circuit of the Americas. However, that streak stopped after the Next-Gen car debuted. And with NASCAR further bringing changes to the Austin, Texas racetrack, Elliott seems apprehensive, unlike Kyle Busch. The maximum changes are in the layout. NASCAR removed a key section from Turn 7 through the Turn 11 hairpin. Then the COTA track also has fresh asphalt after a repaving project completed last September.

To allow drivers to adjust to the revamped track, NASCAR extended Saturday’s practice session. Racers got a chance to validate their computer simulation testing with real-world track time. According to Chase Elliott, this was much needed: “The good news is that we’ve got some practice next week to understand the reconfiguration. I do not have my head wrapped around it completely at this point…I would have to imagine it will change the racing a little, I would think, just based off the way it’s shaped. So hopefully, it gives more opportunities to get crafty, have some more options, opportunities to pass or just be different. If it does, great. And if it doesn’t, it’ll look like it has for the last few years out there.”

Evidently, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott are concerned about different things ahead of COTA. Let us see how the two Cup stars perform at the season’s first road course!