Noah Gragson is slowly yet steadily trying to find traction on the tracks of NASCAR. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has tried to be steady behind his wheel in the last six races and undo the mistakes of the past season, bringing his average Cup finish down from 28 to 19. While the oval tracks did not pose a serious threat to the SHR driver, now the configuration has changed and it is time to tread on a different track.

All three NASCAR series are set to rev up their engines for the first road course race of the season on the iconic track of the Circuit of The Americas. While the track may not deliver the aggressiveness compared to the oval tracks, it does come with its own set of curve balls, which Stewart Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson seeks to decipher.

The track of COTA poses a threat to Noah Gragson

The Circuit of The Americas boasts a state-of-the-art facility that has hosted top racing series including Formula 1 and IMSA. It was not before 2021 that NASCAR hit the 3.4-mile track including 20-turns. Nevertheless, COTA has been one of the most anticipated tracks of NASCAR and has delivered a few of the most nail-biting performances and frenzied restarts.

Nevertheless, in order to tackle unrestrained traffic and minimize wreck carnage, NASCAR resolved to shift the restart zone. However, that does not assure a race void of daunting challenges, as Noah Gragson pointed out in a video posted by Stewart-Haas Racing on Instagram. He explained the complex structure of the turns, saying, “And we are here in Turn 1 at the Circuit of The Americas. Right here in Turn 1 the craziest corner in all of NASCAR when it comes down to restarts. Three, four or five even six wide sometimes and this hill doesn’t do us justice.”

“This is so steep coming up there so you can drive in so far, probably double the distance to the corner that you normally would on a flat surface using the hill to slow you down. It’s really tight through here, a lot of elevation change. This is a wild race track and we are ready to go tack it this weekend at Stewart-Haas”, he added. 

He further spoke on the various shifts and the sporadic change in Turns 3 and 4, “This might be one of the most challenging racetracks. A lot of risks versus a lot of rewards. It is really easy to override one of the corners. This is the esses, Turns 3 and 4, 5 and 6 at COTA. You can see right under the bridge it is here where we turn in and it’s a left-hander, right-hander, left-hander, and then a double right-hander.” 

The road course races were much anticipated this season. Yet, the anticipation of the first road course race of the season is heavily accompanied by the uncertainty of the future.

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Uncertainty looms over the future of Circuit of the Americas

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 The uncertainty is whether NASCAR will be returning to COTA for the next season. Speedway Motorsports had rented this track and included it in the NASCAR schedule since 2021. However, with NASCAR downsizing the number of road course races in the schedule, a dark cloud of uncertainty looms over the track being able to make the cut.

However, the Cup Series drivers have displayed a keen interest in racing in COTA and hope that it will retain its spot on the schedule. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain exclaimed, “Dang right I want to see it come back. I had some great runs there and super fast cars and just a lot of fun — Trucks, Xfinity, Cup cars, all of them. …I hope that (Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith) doesn’t let it go.”

Moreover, Michael McDowell reiterated a similar thought as Chastain’s. He stated, “I like COTA, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a proper road course. I mean, it’s awesome. Elevation and long and sweeping and tight and technical and passing zones. It’s a really fun race track. It’s a really good race track.”

Whether COTA comes for the next season will be a thing to look out for. But, before that, it remains to be seen which road course prodigy gets crowned after Sunday’s race. 

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