Roush Fenway Keselowski Weekly Advance | COTA

The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to its first of six road courses races this season, and second-ever trip to Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Last season, weather was the story of the weekend in Austin at the 3.41-mile track, as Chris Buescher again returns to his home state, while Brad Keselowski is in search of his first Cup win on a road course.

NASCAR Cup Series Race at Circuit of the Americas
Sunday, March 27 | 3:30 p.m. ET
FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

· Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang

RFK to Honor Employee on COTA Cars

RFK unexpectedly lost a dedicated member of its family last week. Tim Duncan, a Maintenance Facilities Technician at RFK, passed away on the job on March 16 of natural causes. Duncan, originally from Spartanburg, S.C., was a valued member of the RFK team. He was known as a walking encyclopedia of knowledge who had a soft spot for animals, and at one time was a certified Journeyman in the state of South Carolina.

RFK will run decals in his honor on the c-post of its Ford Mustangs this weekend in Texas. Duncan was 55.

Road Racing Success

As an organization, RFK has made 370 starts on road courses across NASCAR’s major touring series and has recorded 15 wins, 70 top-fives, 136 top-10s, 11 poles and 880 laps led.

Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.

Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Courses

Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.

Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners

In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.

RFK Road Course Wins

1993-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1994-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1995-1 Martin WGI-Cup

1997-1 Martin Son-Cup

2014-1 Edwards Son-Cup

2012-1 Edwards WGI-NXS

2010-1 Edwards RA-NXS

2009-1 Edwards Mon-NXS

2014-1 Buescher Mid-O NXS

1998-1 Ruttman WGI-Truck

2000-1 Biffle WGI-Truck

1997-1 Ruttman Top-Truck

1999-1 Bliss Top-Truck

1997-1 Ruttman Son-Truck

1999-1 Biffle Port-Truck

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Advance |Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Boot Barn Ford Mustang, won last year’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Now in his first season at the NASCAR Cup Series level, Gilliland participated in a media call this morning to talk about this weekend’s event.

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Boot Barn Ford Mustang – HOW DID NOT HAVING YOUR CREW CHIEF IMPACT YOU LAST WEEK AND HOW SEVERE IS THE PENALTY? “It’s definitely never a good thing, especially being a rookie trying to work with my crew chief for the first time. It happened in our second race of the season, so I feel like we were just getting in a good flow of our rhythm every weekend and just to have that broken up now for four weeks is really really tough, but we have my Truck Series crew chief, Chris Lawson, calling the races, so we’re still down a guy throughout the whole tech process, throughout practice to make changes. Obviously, we can still be in communication with Seth as far as text messages and calling him after, but just that small communication gap that we have now where you don’t have time to have that gap. You have to make decisions faster than ever with limited practice and all this, so to answer the first part it’s really tough to have a communication gap. I mean, it gets frustrating at times just because you don’t get answers as fast as you would like to, and then as far as the severity of the penalty, obviously I think we’re kind of biased to it, but we think it’s a little bit too much for us, just because – at least my understanding and I’m probably getting one side of the story – but the rule was kind of created back when crew chiefs were the ones kind of making the call of how many lugnuts to put on and nowadays you’re not trying to get an advantage. I guess you’re trying to have a fast pit stop so that leads to mistakes, but the rule kind of came up within a different era of pit stops and lugnuts than we are in now.”

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK AT ATLANTA? IT’S HARD TO TELL FROM THE VIDEO. “Atlanta, I definitely feel super super dumb about that. When we got in the first wreck we bent a right-rear toe link, so we were on pit road and went five laps down with that. We were just trying to get them back. We took one wave around, me and the 34 did at the same time, so we ended up pitting and coming back out we ended up together drafting. And then I guess it was a lack of communication and a lack of me asking what I should do. I’ve never really gotten lapped super quick like that, especially at a superspeedway type place. It’s probably the worst possible scenario, but just throughout practice and stuff I had seen guys getting out of the draft on top, so in my mind I had never really even thought twice that we were both just gonna go to the top once the pack was half a straightaway back and we were just gonna get out of the way that way, but then as soon as I moved up and I saw the 34 stay on the bottom I knew I had screwed up pretty big. I should have asked. I feel really really bad about making myself look dumb, first off, by making the pack split us. I’ve been on the other side of it and it’s super super frustrating when lapped cars do that, so I feel bad about it, but, like I said, I guess communication error. I should have asked, but then the wreck I feel like I just got too high. I was top of four-wide, three-wide and I was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible and then I got up into the dirt and kind of just spun out.”

YOU WON IN THE TRUCK SERIES AT COTA LAST YEAR. HOW MUCH DOES HAVING THAT EXPERIENCE HELP YOU HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND? “I think it gives me a lot of confidence, especially since we talk about the Next Gen car being an equalizer, and then COTA also. Everyone has only been there one time and I didn’t realize talking to my teammate Michael McDowell that they only ran like one lap in the dry all weekend, which was for qualifying I believe. We were able to practice in the dry the day before and even that I feel like I have more laps in the dry than anyone there, so I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s a beautiful racetrack. I love road course racing in general. It’s a lot of fun. It seems like you’re always busy inside the car, so, overall, I’d say I have a lot of confidence going to COTA and I’m just super excited about it in general.”

HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR SEASON SO FAR? “I think through the first five races I’m actually kind of happy with how it’s been going. It’s hard to set real expectations, but I’d say the first four races at least, obviously last week I feel it went really bad, probably as bad as possible for me, but before that I feel like we’ve been staying out of trouble and feel like I’ve been racing good cars, good drivers and I feel like gaining their respect for the most part. That’s hard to do over the course of 500 miles or 400 miles is be the one that doesn’t make the mistake, so I feel good about that. I think, overall, it’s been going really well.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AT COTA AND WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD ROAD COURSE RACER? “That’s a tough one. I feel like to be a good road course racer, I was joking with my team yesterday and said it’s pretty simple when you think about it, you just gas it as hard as you can and brake as late and as hard as you can into the next corner, so that’s what I’ve always just had a lot of fun with it – just drive as hard as you can every single lap. I think the Next Gen car is just gonna be challenging in general on the road course. Front Row Motorsports has never been to a test with it, so we’re just kind of putting our best guess out there, which I guess is kind of how it’s been all year going to the racetrack, but I think there’s just not much notes on the Next Gen car that’s gonna race on a road course, so we’re gonna be learning a lot every single lap, but I think the biggest thing that makes a road course racer good is just being really precise on where they hit every line every lap.”

DO YOU HAVE TO GO AND TALK TO CODY WARE OR DID HE REACH OUT TO YOU BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED? DID YOU TALK TO ANYBODY ELSE? “I texted Cody right after. He just started working out at the same place I do the week before, so I just talked to him for the first time and then I go and do that, so I texted him right away. I felt really bad. Like he said, he was running a really good race. It’s tough to stay on the lead lap for these things and he was doing a really good job of that. I always hate to take people out by dumb mistakes, but as far as everyone else, I didn’t even know where the start. Like you said, literally the whole field passed me and I knew we were in a bad spot, so I didn’t reach out to anyone else, but obviously I feel bad that I did it to everyone.”

WHAT HAVE YOU NOTICED WITH THIS NEW CAR AND ITS ABILITY TO TAKE DAMAGE AND CONTINUE RACING? “It is tough. I feel like I hit the wall decently hard with the right side the first time, and so it’s a little bit different. I feel like the right-rear bent easier than what it would have with last year’s car, but the difference is with the Next Gen car we were able to take the five laps and fix it to where I was actually just as competitive as before, whereas with the old car it might have not bent as much, but you definitely weren’t gonna be able to fix it during the race. I think there are kind of two sides to it. I think the Next Gen car, being able to fix the cars is awesome. I’ve kept saying we were going five laps down, but my team and I think we can get it to where we can change that part much faster during the race scenario, and then just seeing Ross Chastain. Before he hit the wall like that, with a steel body the right side is pancaked in and it’s not gonna be competitive. I think he finished in second place, but it’s not gonna be that competitive when you go back out, so I think that’s the biggest thing is the composite body is much nicer. It popped back out, pop off the tire, which is a huge thing, and then just being able to switch out a rear toe link or some parts during the race I think will be nicer, too.”

HOW MUCH WILL THE COMPOSITE BODY CHANGE THINGS? WILL THIS SPORT BECOME EVEN MORE PHYSICAL IF THE BODY CAN TAKE MORE BEATING AND BANGING? “I can definitely see it getting more physical. It almost just takes me back to watching the Xfinity cars. I feel like they don’t have a worry in their mind about the body. It’s gonna pop back out, so that’s a good thing for the fans and also kind of a bad thing and sometimes frustrating thing for the drivers, so I guess we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. I think the Cup Series guys race with a lot of respect, but also you see it get really physical sometimes anyway, so I can definitely see it going that way.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON RICHMOND AND EXPECTATIONS GOING THERE IN A CUP CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME? “I’m expecting a tough race at Richmond. I had a tough time there in the truck, just the front straightaway you don’t have much grip at all. You’re always just trying to get the power down and then a really long Cup race with a lot more power, I think will just make that even that much harder, but my team and I have been working really hard and based off Phoenix stuff, like I said, we just don’t have many notes. So, we’re trying to compare Phoenix and Richmond and been in the simulator, so just trying to get our best foot forward. I feel like this is gonna be our first time of kind of having something to go off of, so part of me is really excited that I think we can put our best foot forward and unload fast at Richmond, but part of me knows I still have a lot to learn at Richmond also.”

DO YOU THINK NOT DOING THE TEST AT THE ROVAL PUTS YOU AT A DISADVANTAGE AT COTA? “I guess there are kind of two parts to it. I think it puts us at a bit of a disadvantage just not ever having one on the road course, just to know some little things, but also that test was so early on that so many different parts of the car have changes, so many different rules. I think not being there, we’re trying to say that it’s maybe not as big of a disadvantage because the rules have changed, but I think certainly going to the road course this weekend we’d all wish that Front Row would have been at that test back then to at least have a little bit of a notebook.”

HOW ARE YOU GUYS MANAGING YOUR CAR FLEET FROM A DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVE? “Last week, I walked in the shop and I think it was the most I’ve ever seen is we had seven Next Gen car bodies on just sitting there. I don’t exactly how many are race ready, but it’s definitely kind of an interesting feeling going to the racetrack knowing you have one backup car for two teams, not that you ever want to use it or expect to, but it’s just a nice safety blanket to at least know you have a car in the hauler. So, I think it’s definitely in the back of your mind, but once you get to the race I’d say you race as hard as you can and really once you wreck, you’re still trying to salvage everything you can. It’s still a long season and you’ve got to get as many points and the best finish possible every week.”

WHICH ROAD COURSE SUITS YOUR STYLE THE MOST AND WHICH SUITS YOUR STYLE THE LEAST? “That’s a tough question. I think one that I’ve struggled with in the past is Sonoma, but I haven’t run there since the K&N West days in 2017, I think. I would like to think I’ve gotten a little bit better since then and hopefully I’ll not struggle as bad there, but I think I would just have to say COTA is probably my best one. I’ve ran one at Watkins Glen before in the trucks also, so I’m really looking forward to those two and Sonoma, I think I have a lot to learn and we’ll go to a couple new ones, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun. Hopefully, we can just get a good finish here and build some confidence going into those next ones.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE TRACK HAS CHANGED BECAUSE OF THE PARTIAL REPAVE? HOW WILL YOU ADAPT TO THAT? “I hope the repave will help with a lot more grip. I think we’re going back with a little bit softer tire or even maybe the same as last year and last year we wore out tires like crazy fast in practice when it was in the dry, so hopefully that’s not as bad as the tire wear last year and hopefully it has a little bit more grip and maybe a little bit faster lap time, but I think it’s gonna be a good thing.”

TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID-EIGHTIES THIS WEEKEND. WHAT IS THAT GOING TO BE LIKE FOR YOU GUYS IN THE CAR? “I feel like the first one, no matter how much you prepare or not, will always be pretty warm and catch you off guard a little bit. I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s still a relatively short race. This might be a good way to ease into it. I think it’s only like 215-ish miles, 212 miles, so, like I said, a short race and we’re definitely working a lot more than normal, I would say. It’s gonna be tough. It’s gonna be the first one of the year and you just have to get through it. I think for some guys it might be tough and just in general the Next Gen car is hotter. We’ve heard that all throughout the off-season and everything. I’m lucky I got into it after they made all the changes, so I haven’t been too bad, but I’m sure this weekend it’s gonna be really hot in there. And then the obvious stuff like cool box and cool suit, you’ve got to make sure all that stuff is working right this weekend.”

BOOT BARN IS A NEW SPONSOR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT RELATIONSHIP? “It is really cool and it was kind of funny, me and Zane (Smith) went to the Boot Barn here in Concord yesterday and picked out a whole outfit. We actually have a photo shoot today at the shop, but I got some boots. I got a Texas-sized belt buckle that has a longhorn on it, so I’m fully kitted out to go to Texas this weekend. It’s really cool to have a national brand like Boot Barn on board, just really to represent hard-working people. It’s really cool.”

This Week in Motorsports: March 21-27, 2022

· NCS/NXS/NCWTS: Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas) – March 26-27

PLANO, Texas (March 23, 2022) – NASCAR goes left and right for the first time this season as it makes its second-ever stop at the Circuit of the Americas road course, just outside of Austin, Texas.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCWTS

Stellar on the Road… Martin Truex Jr. is always one to watch on the road courses. He earned his second career victory in Sonoma in 2013 and since has added additional road course wins at Watkins Glen in 2017 and Sonoma in 2019.

Busch looks to add two more COTA wins… Kyle Busch is the defending winner of the Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of the Americas. He will not defend that title; however, he has two more chances to add Austin hardware this weekend as he competes in his second Truck Series race of the season aboard the No. 51 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, which went to victory lane on Saturday with Toyota development driver Corey Heim behind the wheel. Busch will also pilot his No. 18 Toyota Camry TRD in the Cup Series race on Sunday.

Bubba goes for two… Bubba Wallace will get extended time on track this weekend as he returns to the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing for the first time in nearly a decade. Wallace will pilot the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra. The Alabama-native made his first six career Xfinity Series starts for the team and earned his first pole and top-10 finish in 2012 and 2013. Wallace made one Xfinity Series start last season, guiding the No. 61 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota GR Supra to a top-10 finish in Michigan.

Gibbs continues to impress… Last season’s rookie of the year, Ty Gibbs, continues to impress in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Gibbs led just one lap in Atlanta, but it was the most important one, as he made a bold last lap move to score his second win of the season and sixth in just 23 career starts. He will make his track debut at COTA this weekend.

Chase debuts… Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) will introduce drivers to the Xfinity Series for two consecutive race weekends. In COTA, Texas-native Parker Chase will make his series debut. The road-course ace ran at COTA last season for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series, where he qualified in the top-10. He will compete for a team that has been impressive to start the season, as they sit inside the top-10 in the owner point standings.

Smith continues to lead… Chandler Smith continues to lead the overall NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings after another top-five finish in Atlanta. The Las Vegas winner leads the overall standings by 13 points. Seven of the top-10 drivers in the current point standings drive Toyota Tundra TRD Pros.

Majeski coming off career-best… Ty Majeski is coming off a career-best third place run in the Truck Series race at Atlanta. The Wisconsin-native is one of two drivers with top-10 finishes in the first three races and sits third in the overall point standings. The ThorSport Racing driver will make his track debut in Austin this weekend.

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FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS ADVANCE

For the second consecutive season, all three of NASCAR’s top touring series will be competing on the road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. This also marks the second straight weekend that the NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be part of a doubleheader on Saturday. The NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled to close out the two-day show on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a look at some of Ford’s road racing history as COTA hosts the first of six Cup road course events this year.

This Week’s Schedule:

Saturday, March 26 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 1 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, March 26 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, March 27 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

ONE YEAR AGO

Todd Gilliland became the first NASCAR driver to win a national series event at Circuit of the Americas when he captured the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race last season. In a weekend that was hampered by rain, Gilliland was able to manage the mixed conditions of dry and wet pavement to win by nearly eight seconds. Gilliland, who registered his second series win that day, will be looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory this weekend as he continues his rookie season driving for Front Row Motorsports.

FORD’S ACTIVE ROAD COURSE CUP WINNERS

There are three current drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series race on a road course with Ford. The most recent winner was Ryan Blaney, who captured the inaugural event at the Charlotte Roval in 2018. Kevin Harvick, who goes into this weekend with 23 career Ford victories in just over five years, got his first with the Blue Oval in 2017 when he won at Sonoma. Joey Logano scored his Cup victory at Watkins Glen International in 2015, which completed a weekend sweep after he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race one day earlier.

OTHER FORD ROAD COURSE WINNERS

Besides the drivers mentioned above, Ford has six other active Cup competitors who have won on a road course in either the NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Brad Keselowski (Watkins Glen NXS with Ford, 2013); Chris Buescher (Mid-Ohio NXS with Ford, 2014); Michael McDowell (Road America NXS, 2016); Austin Cindric (NXS wins with Ford at Watkins Glen, 2019; Mid-Ohio, 2019; Road America, 2020, Daytona Road Course, 2020; and Indianapolis Road Course, 2021); Chase Briscoe (NXS wins with Ford at Charlotte Roval, 2018; and Indianapolis Road Course, 2020); and Todd Gilliland (Circuit of the Americas NCWTS with Ford, 2021).

FORD ROAD COURSE WINS IN THE MODERN ERA (1972-Present)

Circuit of the Americas is one of eight road courses the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on in the modern era, joining Riverside International Raceway (1958-88), Watkins Glen International (1957-Present), Sonoma Raceway (1989-Present), Charlotte Motor Speedway (2018-Present), Daytona International Speedway (2020-2021), Road America (2021-Present) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2021-Present). Ford has produced a total of 19 combined wins at those facilities from 1972-Present. Mark Martin leads the way with four victories, including three straight years at Watkins Glen, while Ricky Rudd, Marcos Ambrose and Geoffrey Bodine have two each.

CHASE BRISCOE
COTA Advance
No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 27
● Location: Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, for the sixth stop on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The 27-year-old driver is fresh off a frustrating 15th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Briscoe started on the pole and led five of the first six laps of the race before getting hung out of the pack and falling toward the back of the field. The No. 14 team worked its way back into the top-five before Briscoe and Ford Performance teammate Ryan Blaney got loose while making a run for the lead and made contact with the outside wall on the final lap.

● With five races complete, Briscoe currently holds a spot in the 16-driver playoff field by virtue of his win two weekends ago at Phoenix Raceway. He has two top-five finishes and sits third in points, 15 behind leader Chase Elliott.

● In last year’s inaugural event at COTA, Briscoe earned his first Cup Series top-10, finishing sixth after starting 27th. He went on to earn two additional top-10s, both coming at road course events – sixth at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and ninth at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. When the Cup Series took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August, Briscoe qualified second and led 12 laps, nearly earning his first Cup Series victory before going off track with two laps to go and incurring a penalty that ended his bid.

● In addition to his top-10 performances in the Cup Series, two of Briscoe’s biggest wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came on road courses. His first win, earned on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval in 2018, has been credited as the win that saved his career. In 2020, when the Xfinity Series debuted its stock cars on the Indianapolis road course, Briscoe led a race-high 30 of 62 laps to capture a dominating win in front of his hometown crowd.

● This Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix serves as a home race for Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America. Part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, Mahindra Ag North America is the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners, and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort at a great value. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How are things behind the scenes with your new sponsors?

“It’s been really cool. I’ve been super fortunate my entire career. I’ve had really good relationships with all of the sponsors I’ve had and they are all incredible people. We’ve been able to build a lot of really cool things, but Mahindra Tractors is different in that it’s really the first time I’ve been aligned, with the exception of maybe one or two times, with an actual consumer brand. You look at HighPoint.com, for example, it’s not as much of a consumer play. It’s more of a B2B thing, whereas Mahindra is trying to sell tractors to fans and that’s something that I haven’t really had at the higher levels of NASCAR. It’s been cool to see the approach and what they’re trying to do to correlate that over to tractor sales, and it’s been a lot of fun. Anytime you can bring a new partner into the sport, it’s special, and to be able to do it in a way that we’ve been able to do it and make a big splash, it’s all because of them. They are obviously investing a lot, not only with the race team but with our broadcast partners and things like that. Not only are they seeing the success in all of this, but it’s also helping my brand to let people see my personality in these commercials and some of the other things we’re working on. We’re not done, yet. It’s just been a lot of fun for me to see how enthusiastic they are about this race team and it’s been a lot of fun.”

What are your thoughts about COTA based on last year’s race?

“From the racetrack standpoint, I feel like I’m kind of going there for the first time, just because last year I don’t think I ever ran a single lap in the dry. I think we practiced, qualified, everything in the wet, so it’s going to be like learning a whole new racetrack this week. I know from a facility standpoint it’s pretty remarkable. It’s super cool to go out there. Even last year in the rain, there were a ton of fans out there, so I’m excited to see what it looks like this year. I didn’t get to do a ton of exploring in the city last year, but I know Austin is a really cool town. I’m going to try to do a little bit more this year while we’re there, just because we’re there a little bit longer than usual. I’m super excited to get back. I’m really excited, truthfully, just to get this Next Gen car on a road course. Based on some of the testing we did on the (Charlotte) Roval, they’re a blast to run on the road course. I’m curious to see what the racing will be like. I think it will definitely change the landscape of these road-course races. I think you’re going to see a lot more guys that are competitive than in years past because you can drive this car so much harder. It does a lot of things a lot better than the old car, so it’ll be interesting to see how that works out and plays out. It looks like the weather is going to be really good and it should be a great show.”

What can we expect this weekend on a dry track, in comparison?

“I think it’ll definitely be different than what we saw last year. I mean, last year’s race will look way different than this year’s race with the weather. It was a different style of racing when it was that wet, but from a driver’s standpoint it’s a lot of fun, just the visibility is obviously tough. And then, from a fan’s standpoint, it’s tough to see what’s going on and a little more miserable than if it was a really nice day. I think this car on the road courses is where it’s really going to shine and, truthfully, on the oval stuff, it’s been a lot better than what people expected. I think the road course is probably going to blow it out of the park. It’s a really well-built racecar, especially for road-course racing. It’s going to be interesting to see with 40 of us out there going for it versus just a test session where only a couple of guys are on track, but I think COTA is a really good racetrack to unveil this thing on a road course and I’ve been really excited to get there, so I’m looking forward to it.”

You’ve had a chance to work with Joey Hand in preparation for the road-course races on the schedule. How has he helped you with your road-course development?

“It’s been huge. Joey is obviously an extremely good road-course racer. He has a little bit of a dirt background, so he can kind of relate to what I go through, but it’s been huge. Anytime you can have somebody come from a different discipline and different style driving cars and give input, it’s huge. We’ve seen that with other manufacturers kind of doing the same thing and, for me, I like criticism. I like people telling me what I’m doing wrong, and he literally just gave me a whole sheet of different things I could try. And I think the good thing about being at the simulator and having Joey there is just the fact that you can run laps, he can see it and come out and say, ‘Hey, try this, this and this,’ and you can apply it. You don’t have to wait until the weekend to try things. I know last year I was definitely able to find speed in places that he was telling me to try based on what we did in the simulator. Now we have to race against him. I’ve been telling him that I think he’s going to be really, really good this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see how those guys run. This thing, in a sense, is a lot like a sportscar, which is what he’s used to, so I’m excited to see him run this weekend and think he’ll be one of the guys to beat.”

No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe
Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
Hometown: Perry Hall, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey
Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Spotter: Joey Campbell
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson
Hometown: Rock Hill, South Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Jack Man: Brandon Banks
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams
Hometown: Naples, Florida

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Rob Fink
Hometown: Mocksville, North Carolina