It is the longest track on the NASCAR Cup Series itinerary, designed to push drivers and machines to their limit. We’re talking about the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which figures prominently on the calendars of not just NASCAR fans but all motorheads, hosting as it does, everything from Formula 1 to MotoGP and the World Endurance Championships.
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Since 2021, NASCAR has consistently featured a race at the track. But drivers have had some reservations about it — not because it’s too challenging, but because of its sheer length. Like Joey Logano, who has been pretty candid with his opinion that the track was simply too long for a stock car racing event.
In fact, he has gone so far as to suggest that COTA should cut the course length by as much as half, to ensure the cars would pass by the grandstands more frequently, enhancing fan visibility and engagement.
Considering the opinions of the fraternity, some changes have been implemented for NASCAR’s next visit to COTA on March 2. This includes the use of the more compact 2.3-mile, 17-turn National Course at the venue. That is more than a mile less than the original 3.427-mile track featuring a long backstretch. The change, understandably, has pleased Logano.
In an interview ahead of the 2025 Ambetter Health 400 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Logano discussed the upcoming race at COTA. He spoke about the shortened track length, and how it would benefit the fans.
“I like that we shortened the track up for the fans’ perspective. If you’re sitting in the grandstands and they come by you, now they gonna come by you a lot more. I don’t know how much more it is,” said Logano.
The change in lap timing, for instance, would be significant now, almost half a minute less than previously.
“I think they cut probably 30 seconds or so of lap time off the racetrack. So, that’s quite a bit more times you get to see the race cars, you know, go down into turn one. So, I like that. To me, it never really made sense to have really long road courses, I don’t get the point of it. So, yeah I’m a fan of shortening the course up,” he added.
Ross Chastain is also happy with the changes at COTA, including the new layout. The Trackhouse Racing driver wants to dedicate significant time to the simulator to get familiar with the new layout. The #1 Chevrolet driver boasts an impressive record at the venue, with an average finish of 4.0 over four starts, including one win and three top-5 finishes.
Besides the obvious change that increased the lap count from 68 to 100, there were a few more alterations made to the road course — narrowing of the asphalt edges by 1.5 meters, the introduction of astroturf in place of asphalt, and a complete resurfacing of the track to ensure a smoother ride.
Initially, some NASCAR enthusiasts were less than thrilled with the decision to reduce the straightaways of the road course. It remains to be seen how they will perceive these changes post-race.
