THE LEFT TURN
NASCAR: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix preview, picks
Mar 25, 2022, 4:56 pm
NASCAR is back in Texas! Photo via: Wiki Commons.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Austin, Texas for the EchoPark Grand Prix at the famed Circuit of the Americas. This is NASCAR’s second race here and if it’s anything like last season, there will be plenty of challenges for each driver. One major difference about this year's race is the weather. Come Sunday, the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and no rain like we saw last year. Overall, the strategy is completely different, and the drivers won’t have to worry about switching to wet tires or visibility concerns. The race will be 68 laps which may not seem like a lot, but usually laps around this racetrack take about 2-3 minutes to complete. Because of its massive lengths and abundance of corners, this race will be tough on brakes. This is pretty standard on road courses, and it will be imperative for drivers to conserve them. We can expect a 3-4 pit stop race throughout the stages which end on laps 15 and 32 and then the final 36 laps, so we will see a lot of strategies play out on when to pit. Some drivers may try to split the stages by pitting twice, some will only pit once but at the end of the day, the driver who survives will more than likely go to victory lane.
Last week, William Byron picked up his third career victory at Atlanta Superspeedway. Throughout the day, the race was marred by tire failures and crashes, as there were 11 cautions and a whopping 30 cars that had damage when the race was over. It was known that chaos was a strong possibility, which is exactly what we got. In the end, the car that was upfront for the better part of the day did pick up the win. But it was frustrating to watch drivers like Ross Chastain and Ricky Stenhouse crash while leading the race. These tire issues are becoming a major problem for the sport, it seems like every week there is an issue. Hopefully, this can be sorted out before they get to the dirt race at Bristol in the next month.
Regardless of all the issues during the race, William Byron’s command of the field was impressive. It seemed like he was the pied piper, he led a race high 111 laps and was able to control the draft for most of the race. Byron has shown a lot of speed when racing in a pack and this week was no different. Atlanta was a nice rebound for Byron after a disappointing 18th place finish in Phoenix the week before. This week’s race will be a little bit more of a challenge though, his average finish on road courses is 18.50. He will have a lot of work to do to build on last week's win.
Throughout the first five races this season, no one has been on a hot streak like Ross Chastain. In the last three races, he’s finished no worse than third, including an amazing comeback at Atlanta. His team Trackhouse racing has dramatically improved from a top 15 team to a race-winning team, and it seems like that victory is coming soon. COTA is a track where he’s been fast at, last season he was able to brave the elements and record an impressive fourth-place finish. Chastain is sure to be a contender come Sunday.
The driver that I have winning this weekend is Chase Elliott. When picking a favorite for this race, it wasn’t difficult to decide who’s had the most success on road courses. Over the past 12 round course races run since 2019, Elliott has won half of them, so why would this week be any different? It’s been a frustrating season for the 2020 champion, from getting crashed out by his teammate Kyle Larson at Auto Club to spinning out in the closing laps at Phoenix. There have been plenty of bumps in the road for him, but this is the perfect place for him to rebound and turn his luck around. Chase will be the car to beat when the green flag drops.
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Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins surveyed the wreckage left by the No. 2 Longhorns' total domination of Texas A&M.
Then he summed up the message he believes it sent to the rest of college football about the Texas defense.
“We're the best in the nation,” Collins said.
It's hard to argue with the evidence the No. 2 Longhorns (11-1, 7-1, No. 3 CFP) have produced week after week in earning a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday against No. 6 Georgia (10-2, 6-2 No. 7 CFP). The winner also earns a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Texas opened the season with a shutout. Three more times the Longhorns did not surrender an offensive touchdown. The defense has surrendered a total of 17 points over the last three games. The Longhorns rank No. 3 nationally in total defense, No. 2 in scoring defense, No. 1 in passing yards allowed and No. 3 in total interceptions while allowing just six passing touchdowns.
Against Texas A&M, in the first game in the rivalry since 2011, Texas allowed just 248 total yards and made two critical touchdown-saving stands, one early and one late, that sealed a 17-7 victory. On the second one, Texas stuffed the Aggies on fourth-and-goal from the Texas 1 with less than five minutes left.
“We feel like nobody’s getting in the end zone with us,” Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said after the game. “If you think you’re going to just run right at us for 1 yard, I feel like you’ve lost your mind. I feel like that’s not going to happen.”
Most notable against A&M was how the defense turned momentum and rescued a sputtering offense after the Aggies had scored their only touchdown on an interception return, and then blocked a punt. Backed inside their 5, the Texas defensive line mauled the Aggies and stuffed four consecutive run plays.
“It’s just like a common theme at this point,” Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said after the game, “they continue to save our butts on offense.”
The game against Georgia is a rematch of the Bulldogs' 30-15 win on Oct. 19. Texas will be playing in the title game in its first year in the league. The Bulldogs are in the championship game for the fourth consecutive year and for the seventh time since 2018.
The Bulldogs' 30 points was the most the Longhorns allowed all season. But even then, the Texas defense mostly excelled, holding Georgia under 300 total yards and intercepting three passes by Georgia quarterback Carson Beck.
Georgia ran out to a 23-0 lead after two Texas turnovers set up the Bulldogs with short drives for a pair of touchdowns.
Arguably the only time the Texas defense truly broke this season was a second half touchdown drive by the Bulldogs that put the game out of reach. The Longhorns had pulled within 23-15 when Georgia marched 89 yards in 11 plays for Trevor Etienne's fourth-down 1-yard TD run.
"Georgia had a bunch of short fields and took advantage of those," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
If anything, the Texas defense has gotten better since then. And Georgia coach Kirby Smart won't count on Texas being starstruck playing in the SEC title game.
“I think defensively they’ve been at a high level the entire year," Smart said.
“I’m just saying that the previous matchup does not determine this matchup,” Smart said. “You can’t overstate that to your players because the flow of that game was different in the first three, four, five drives. And then, you know, after a turnover it went the other way a little bit.”