Jordan Taylor Tag

By Matt Weaver, Special Contributor The NASCAR industry is an especially reactive one. For ways both good and bad, it knee jerks to everything from safety matters (generally good) to the (mixed results) endless competition related conversations across the ether on a weekly basis. This season alone has seen the last-minute knee-jerk to a lower downforce configuration for short tracks and road courses, following a winter banning the ‘Hail Melon’ and incorporating a universal choose rule. No motorsports sanctioning body in the world is as reactive to its competitors and audienceRead More

By Matt Weaver, Special Contributor The EchoPark Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas was billed as something akin to a showcase for just how far NASCAR has come from a global standpoint. And for three hours, it largely delivered on that expectation until it suddenly couldn’t. And for nearly 45 minutes, spanning three different overtimes, arguably the greatest international motorsports starting lineup ever assembled for a single Cup Series race just could not stop crashing each other. Involved in one of the overtime crashes, Ryan Preece referred to the fieldRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – Welcome to NASCAR, gentlemen. Needless to say Sunday’s marathon EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas was an eye-opening experience for the road course ringers that came to play in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend in Austin. Jenson Button and Jordan Taylor, champions in Formula 1 and IMSA, respectively, were making their first start in the Cup Series and were joined by another former F1 world champion in Kimi Raikkonen making just his second Cup start. By the time theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – One driver’s misfortune was another’s gain. William Byron will lead the field to green in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, but his pole-winning lap came at the expense of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Bowman set the fast time in the opening minutes of the final round of qualifying, but the call came down from NASCAR that he had exceeded track limits in the esses during his lap, disallowing his time. That moved Byron’s lap of twoRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series regulars that will be racing this weekend at Circuit of the Americas, Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix has drawn some familiar faces from elsewhere in the motorsports world into the fold as well. Among those drivers is seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson making another appearance for the team he co-owns – Legacy Motor Club – and two former Formula 1 world champions in Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button driving for Trackhouse Racing and Rick Ware Racing,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – A constant threat on the road courses, Tyler Reddick was back to form Friday at Circuit of the Americas, topping the lone NASCAR Cup Series practice of the weekend ahead of Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Winner of two road course races last year, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota hasn’t missed a beat with his new team, jumping to the top of the board early on with teammate Bubba Wallace following closely behind. Though a number of other driversRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Serving as the United States home for Formula 1 since opening in 2012, the Circuit of The Americas plays host to some good ol’ American Muscle this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series comes to town for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course sitting just outside of Austin, Texas is the first of six road courses for the Cup Series to visit in 2023 and will give drivers and teams their first look at some new rules for the road courses thisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Add Jimmie Johnson to the list of entrants for the March 26 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The seven-time Cup champion, who raced in the Daytona 500 to kick off the 2023 season in his new owner/driver venture with Legacy Motor Club, announced Tuesday that he would be adding a trip to the Lone Star State to his part-time driving schedule this year with backing from Club Wyndham. Johnson missed out on being able to race at the 20-turn,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor While Chase Elliott is on the mend from his leg injury sustained in a snowboarding accident last week, Hendrick Motorsports has made their plans for which drivers will pilot the team’s No. 9 entry in the weeks ahead. Hendrick officials noted that they expect Elliott to be out for the next six weeks, as his rehab continues in Colorado, and their plan is for two drivers will take over driving duties in the meantime. After his run at Las Vegas last Sunday, Josh Berry will continueRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — Late nights, hard work and uncertainty were the storylines on the first official day of track activity ahead of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship roars to life. Acura on top, then rebuild Each of the two pre-qualifying practice sessions were led by one of the Acura Team Penske ARX-05 machines, with the No. 6 entry leading the morning session and the No. 7 entry leading the afternoon session. However, the No. 7 crew were faced with aRead More