{"id":31403,"date":"2020-09-30T11:50:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T16:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=31403"},"modified":"2020-09-30T11:51:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T16:51:05","slug":"nascar-cup-series-coming-to-cota-in-austin-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/30\/nascar-cup-series-coming-to-cota-in-austin-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series coming to COTA in Austin in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of The Circuit of the Americas<\/em><\/p>\n

AUSTIN, TX  \u2013 Circuit of The Americas<\/a> (COTA) announced today it will welcome race fans to an experience like no other when the NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series visits Austin, Texas for the first-time, courtesy of Speedway Motorsports<\/a>. The inaugural running of the NASCAR Cup Series at COTA will take place on May 23, 2021.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo courtesy of COTA<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOur company is proud to have a 60-year history of fabulous firsts in motorsports entertainment, and we are honored to bring America\u2019s premier racing series to one of the world\u2019s most renowned entertainment venues and cities for the very first time,\u201d said Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith. \u201cI\u2019d like to thank COTA CEO Bobby Epstein as well as NASCAR\u2019s executive leadership for supporting us in an endeavor to do something that we believe will be spectacular for race fans, not only in Texas but around the world. We work and challenge ourselves every day at Speedway Motorsports to create amazing experiences that will last a lifetime, and we know NASCAR at COTA will deliver in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful for Marcus Smith\u2019s vision and determination to make this event possible,\u201d said Circuit of the Americas CEO and Chairman, Bobby Epstein. \u201cHis teams in Charlotte and at Texas Motor Speedway have created a spirit of partnership that will make for a spectacular weekend of fun and competition. Speedway Motorsports, along with the leadership at NASCAR, have a \u2018Fans First\u2019 attitude and have responded to everyone who has long desired to see a Cup Series race at COTA. Fans who\u2019ve been here before will witness stock car racing at its finest for the first time, and first-time visitors will be amazed at the views and friendly experience. It will be our pleasure to write another chapter of motorsports history alongside Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

Designed to challenge the world\u2019s most talented drivers, Circuit of the Americas includes a 3.41-mile, 20-turn counterclockwise circuit and a newly reconfigured 2.2-mile, 15-turn short course. COTA is America\u2019s only facility that annually hosts both Formula 1<\/a> and MotoGP<\/a> races, and is also the only FIA-certified Grade 1 track in the United States. The 1,500-acre entertainment complex has also hosted ESPN<\/a>\u2019s X Games as well as some of the biggest names in music including Taylor Swift, Metallica, Kenny Chesney and Justin Timberlake on the COTA Super Stage.<\/p>\n

As Speedway Motorsports celebrates its 25th <\/sup>season next year at Texas Motor Speedway<\/a> in Dallas\/Fort Worth, adding a NASCAR Cup Series point race in the state capitol of Austin will make 2021 the biggest year ever for NASCAR in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is bigger in Texas, including our passion for NASCAR, and NASCAR will be even bigger and better in Texas in 2021 with the addition of this race in Austin,\u201d said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. \u201cAlong with the races at Texas Motor Speedway, this will be a great experience for NASCAR fans in Texas, while also boosting the Texas economy. We\u2019re thankful for Speedway Motorsports and CEO Marcus Smith for putting this new event together in Austin so NASCAR fans from across the country and around the world can come enjoy this community and all it has to offer,\u201d added Abbott. \u201cI join Texans across the state who are not only looking forward to next month\u2019s race in Dallas\/Fort Worth, but are also ready to drop the green flag at the Circuit of the Americas in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart-Haas Racing<\/a> co-owner and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart made a demonstration run in a No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang last October at COTA. After driving the course in the 3,200-pound stock car, Stewart was intrigued about the possibility of NASCAR coming to Austin, and now that it\u2019s official, he\u2019s already looking forward to next May.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe track was a lot of fun to drive. It\u2019s very technical and there will be a lot of ways for the Cup Series drivers to attack it,\u201d said Stewart, a 2020 inductee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame<\/a>. \u201cThe corners get tighter, tighter, tighter and it\u2019s going to be hard on braking. There are several potential passing zones. This will be a challenge for the drivers, a heck of a show for the fans, and Austin will be a great place for teams to entertain sponsors. This is a big-time addition to the 2021 NASCAR schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Announcements regarding race length, course selection and the full weekend schedule will be made at a later date. Fans can reserve a weekend ticket package to the inaugural May 23 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas by visiting www.NASCARATCOTA.com<\/a>, and follow @NASCARatCOTA on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, or Facebook<\/a> for additional event updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of The Circuit of the Americas AUSTIN, TX  \u2013 Circuit of The Americas (COTA) announced today it will welcome race fans to an experience like no other when the NASCAR Cup Series visits Austin, Texas for the first-time, courtesy of Speedway Motorsports. The inaugural running of the NASCAR Cup Series at COTA will take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":31405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[38,11],"tags":[39,16],"class_list":["post-31403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circuit-of-the-americas","category-nascar","tag-circuit-of-the-americas","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-8av","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Circuit-of-The-Americas-courtesy-of-COTA-800x350-md.jpg?fit=800%2C350&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31403"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31406,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31403\/revisions\/31406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}