NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers are rolling into COTA for the first road course of the year. The latest viral star, Josh Williams, is suspended.
After pulling off one of the crazier things you’ll see on a racetrack NASCAR told Josh Williams to stay at home for this weekend’s round at Circuit of The Americas. Williams had everyone talking when he parked his car at the start/finish line and walked to the infield after he felt that he was wrongly penalized by NASCAR. He even gave a friendly wave to people in the flag stand on the way out.
Josh Williams parked it … literally … on the start-finish line. pic.twitter.com/e42EV2u21g
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 18, 2023
The rarely enforced penalty was for a piece of tape that had fallen off from a repair. It seemed to be an attempt to clean up a race that had gotten out of control. Josh Williams felt like that was at his expense and let the Series officials know that in the most entertaining way possible.
Kings of The Road
This week’s entry list shows a few drivers from the Cup Series coming down to get as much track time on the road course as possible. Ty Gibbs, William Byron, and A.J. Allmendinger are all entered for double duty at Circuit of the Americas and Xfinity Series drivers will have to be at the very top of their game to compete. Allmendinger himself won four out of the six road course races last season before moving up to the Cup Series for 2023. So far this year Xfinity regulars have won every race but this will probably be their toughest challenge yet.
The Track
Circuit of The Americas is one of the more unique tracks on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. It’s a European-style road course with parts that are built to resemble sections of other famous race tracks. The Maggotts and Becketts section from Silverstone Circuit is in the first part of the lap. Then towards the end is a remake of Istanbul Park’s quadruple apex turn 8.
One of the biggest differences between American and European road courses is how the edge of the track is defined. American tracks tend to have grass, dirt, or gravel along the side and if you go off-track, you could be in trouble. European track limits are usually painted lines or rumble strips which give the driver a bit of forgiveness for mistakes. This leads to what we see at Circuit of The Americas, drivers taking full advantage of every inch of asphalt they can. And because NASCAR doesn’t penalize them for it, they will.
Prediction
Much like last week heading into Atlanta, there is an obvious favorite heading into the race. A.J. Allmendinger won at COTA last year as well as almost every other road course on the schedule and he’ll be looking to repeat. He’s been one of the best road course drivers in NASCAR since he entered the series in 2007. The past few years have been some of his best to date. It’s going to be extremely tough for Byron and Gibbs beat him let alone the Xfinity Series regulars.
How To Watch: Pit Boss 250 (All times EST)
- Practice/Qualifying: Friday, March 24, 6:30 p.m. on FS1
- Pit Boss 250: Saturday, March 25, 5 p.m. on FS1
