Saturday, March 26
Track: Circuit of the Americas, 3.41-mile road course
Race: 4 of 23
Event: XPEL 225 (42 laps, 143 miles)
Schedule
Friday, March 25
Practice: 3:00 p.m. ET
Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 26
Race: 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1)
Hailie Deegan, No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150
- The XPEL 225 marks Hailie Deegan’s second start at Circuit of the Americas. The Ford development driver showed promise in her 2021 COTA debut, passing 14 cars en route to a top-15 finish.
- Deegan will look to rebound from an ill-fated weekend at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway after a flat tire spurred a chain of events that forced her to a 36th-place finish.
- The Temecula, CA native gained valuable road course experience in the off-season, making a start in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona’s 3.56-mile course alongside fellow Ford drivers Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe.
- Crew Chief Mike Hillman Jr. sat atop the pit box for Deegan’s first visit to Austin. However, the pair is still searching for their first top-10 finish together on a non-oval circuit.
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance F-150
- Tanner Gray heads into the fourth race of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season on Saturday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas.
- Through three races, Gray has had the best start to a season of his career with two top-fives and three top-10 finishes. The string of solid finishes has the Ford driver sitting second in the series standings, 49 points above the cut line for the playoffs with 13 races to go.
- The No. 15 team returns to COTA hoping for much better luck this year after missing qualifying and struggling with engine woes at last year’s event and finishing 31st.
- Despite showing speed turning left and right in the past, Gray is in pursuit of his first career top-10 on road courses.
Taylor Gray, No. 17 Ford Performance F-150
- Taylor Gray returns to the seat of the No. 17 Ford Performance F-150 at Circuit of the Americas for his first NCWTS start of the season and sixth of his career.
- The younger Gray has seen success on the ARCA trail this season with two top-fives in the East series and a victory with the national series at Phoenix Raceway on March 11.
- In five NCWTS starts, the Ford development prospect has one top-10 to his credit by way of an eighth-place run at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last fall. His next best finish was 12th at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
- In addition to COTA, Gray’s current Truck Series schedule for 2022 consists of Martinsville, Gateway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lucas Oil Raceway Park, Richmond Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway to close out the season.
