Today, the NASCAR Cup Series will take the green flag in Austin, Texas. Before that, they’ll set the starting grid via two rounds of qualifying at Circuit of the Americas.
View the 2021 COTA starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Two rounds of group qualifying are on deck. 12 drivers will advance out of round one and make a run for the pole.
Round 1
Duration: 25 Minutes
Advance: 12
Denny Hamlin locks up the tires in turn 20 on his get up to speed lap. That will mess up his opening lap in this round.
Halfway in round one, AJ Allmendinger sets at the top of the board with a 133.49. The top 4 drivers so far, all ran the NASCAR Xfinity Series race yesterday.
10 minutes remain in round one, Hamlin is fighting an issue with the steering pump. The team lifts the hood to top off the fluid.
“It’s really good. I don’t know where to get a half second,” Kyle Busch says over the radio. Busch is currently 4th but Allmendinger is a half-second quicker.
2 minutes remain in round one, Hamlin, Logano Elliott, Blaney, Kurt Busch and others back on track to make a second run.
Elliott, Bell, Blaney and Logano are in! Bowman, Suarez and Custer gets bumped.
COTA Qualifying – Round 1 Results : 1. AJ Allmendinger (133.490); 2. Tyler Reddick (133.602); 3. Austin Cindric (133.850); 4. Kyle Busch (133.905); 5. Joey Logano (133.977); 6. William Byron (134.127); 7. Kyle Larson (134.192); 8. Christopher Bell (134.249); 9. Kevin Harvick (134.352); 10. Chase Elliott (134.352); 11. Ryan Blaney (134.486); 12. Alex Bowman (134.578);
Round 2
Duration: 10 Minutes
Harvick, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Cindric each have just one lap on their tires heading into round two. The rest of the 12 machines have two or more.
Drivers are rolling extremely slow on the warmup laps. They are even shutting down the engine. It’s a 3.4-mile track and the cars are all taped up. It also saves some tire.
5 minutes remain in round two, six drivers have set a time. Reddick currently leads with a 132.911.
Tyler Reddick will start from the pole position at Circuit of the Americas!
COTA
Qualifying Results
May 23, 2021
NASCAR Cup Series
Pos | Best Time in Final Round
1. Tyler Reddick
132.911
2. Kyle Larson
133.011
3. Austin Cindric
133.697
4. Kyle Busch
133.708
5. William Byron
133.760
6. Joey Logano
133.791
7. AJ Allmendinger
133.842
8. Chase Elliott
134.117
9. Ryan Blaney
134.518
10. Christopher Bell
134.548
11. Kevin Harvick
134.792
12. Alex Bowman
134.894
Failed to advance into final round
13. Kurt Busch
134.708
14. Cole Custer
135.025
15. Daniel Suarez
135.118
16. Austin Dillon
135.325
17. Martin Truex Jr
135.375
18. Bubba Wallace
135.416
19. Denny Hamlin
135.528
20. Ross Chastain
135.685
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
135.852
22. Matt DiBenedetto
135.852
23. Michael McDowell
135.902
24. Bad Keselowski
135.929
25. Corey LaJoie
136.245
26. Aric Almirola
136.558
27. Chase Briscoe
136.686
28. Chris Buescher
136.728
29. Erik Jones
137.032
30. Justin Haley
137.051
31. Josh Bilicki
137.246
32. James Davison
137.563
33. Ty Dillon
137.682
34. Ryan Newman
138.067
35. Cody Ware
138.194
36. Ryan Preece
138.252
37. Anthony Alfredo
138.701
38. Garrett Smithley
138.804
39. Kyle Tilley
140.361
40. Quin Houff
140.985
Links
Circuit of the Americas | NASCAR