This Week in Motorsports: March 20-26, 2023
· NCS/NXS/NCTS: Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas) – March 25-26
· NHRA: Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park (Chandler, Ariz.) – March 26
· ARCA EAST: Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola, Fla.) – March 25
PLANO, Texas (March 22, 2023) – NASCAR teams make their first road course stop of the 2023 season at Circuit of the Americas in Texas this weekend, while NHRA drag racing is back on track in Arizona and the ARCA East Series season kicks off in Florida.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCTS
Bell adds another top-five… Christopher Bell scored another top-five finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday – his third top-five and fourth top-10 run in five starts this season. With the strong start to the year, Bell sits second in the point standings – just a single point outside of the top spot. The Oklahoma-native scored a third-place finish at Circuit of the Americas one season ago.
Reddick rallies with back-to-back top-fives… Tyler Reddick continued his performance turnaround at Atlanta Motor Speedway as he made it two straight top-five finishes to continue his charge up the point standings. He currently sits in a Playoff spot as the series heads to one of his strongest track configurations. Reddick’s first two Cup Series victories occurred on road courses last season, and he also scored a strong fifth-place finish at COTA last year.
Gibbs makes Xfinity season debut… Reigning Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs will complete double duty for the first time this season as the Cup Series rookie of the year contender will run the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Gibbs is looking for his first win at Circuit of the Americas but has been excellent on road courses in his NASCAR career – picking up Xfinity Series wins at the Daytona Road Course, Watkins Glen International and Road America.
Nemechek continues to run strong… John Hunter Nemechek continues to have a strong start to his first full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing. Nemechek drove to his fifth top-10 finish in five starts this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway – one of only three NXS drivers to score top-10 finishes in every start this season. Nemechek was strong at Circuit of the Americas last season as well, scoring a runner-up finish in the Truck Series event.
Two for Grala… Kaz Grala has been impressive throughout his NASCAR tenure on road courses and is looking to take advantage of two races at the first road course of the season at Circuit of the Americas. The Massachusetts-native will make his second start for TRICON Garage in the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, before hopping aboard the wheel of his normal ride – the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing in Xfinity Series action. Grala led 11 laps and finished second in the Truck Series event at Circuit of the Americas in 2021.
Ankrum adding to Austin success… Tyler Ankrum has had strong runs in both races in Austin thus far. The Hattori Racing Enterprises driver finished seventh in his No. 16 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro last season and won the pole before finishing third in the debut event at the track in 2021.
NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Torrence looking for another Phoenix win… Despite a runner-up finish in Gainesville, Steve Torrence heads into Wild Horse Pass with the points lead – a place where he has had a lot of success. The Torrence family has won three of the past four runnings of this race with Steve winning in 2018 and 2020 and Steve’s father, Billy Torrence, scoring the win in 2019.
Toyota leads new challenge… Phoenix is the kick-off to the new NHRA challenge, the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty race, which pits the semi-finalists from the previous race back against each other for Countdown points. Toyota drivers have four of the eight slots in the nitro classes with Steve Torrence taking on Doug Kalitta in one of the Top Fuel pairings, while Alexis DeJoria and J.R. Todd will both be competing on the Funny Car side.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA East
Two for Toyota in ARCA East… Two Toyota development drivers are kicking off the ARCA East season at Five Flags Speedway this Saturday. Both Sean Hingorani and William Sawalich are just 16 years old and competed in their first ARCA race of the season at Phoenix Raceway. Hingorani battled mechanical woes after starting seventh, while Sawalich was spun while leading in the closing laps and finished 13th.
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