The drivers saw a major change at the Circuit of The Americas when NASCAR returned to the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2022 season. And that was the removal of the curb section in the esses portion of the 3.426-mile racetrack in Austin, Texas. Many drivers, like Christopher Bell, were left wondering how they could possibly run that section of the track while staying out of the danger of overdriving.
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In a recent interview, Bell expressed his displeasure with the issue. “I don’t love it. I wish that they just put curbs down there or, you know, a wall or something just where it’s black and white and it eliminates that judgment call,” he said.
“Because, especially through the esses, there is a ton of lap time to be gained there by pushing the issue.”
Recalling Tyler Reddick’s win last year, which was also Reddick’s first win for 23XI Racing, Christopher Bell said, “Reddick was the guy last year who was super aggressive through there… made it work; he never got busted for track limits and he just pushed the line really aggressively.”
Why did NASCAR make the change at COTA?
Although NASCAR has not provided any clear reason why they removed the curb, it’s quite possible that the officials wanted to avoid the incident that took place in the finishing laps of the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021. The curb, in turns 5-6 chicanes broke apart and started a chain of wrecks, destroying several cars.
BIG TROUBLE at @IMS!
The curb comes up, debris goes everywhere, and multiple cars are collected – with Joey Logano going into the tire barrier. #NASCAR
📺 NBC
💻 https://t.co/K0jeN99Gw2
📱NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/prU3CY957I— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 15, 2021
However, curbs play a major role in denoting the limits of the track, which in turn, allows the drivers to see the limits of the corners and judge when to slow down without over-speeding and make a proper pass around the turns.
So what is the way out?
Unfortunately, there is no answer as of now. All of this seems to be an impasse. Christopher Bell feels like the only way out is to force everyone to do what Reddick did last year. “The guy that’s going to get to be the most aggressive is going to be the guy that gets through the passes,” he explained.
Either way, it’s only a matter of time before we get to know how all of that pans out at COTA this year.
