2023 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400
The 2023 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 24, 2023, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it will be the 30th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, fourth race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 12.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 30 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | September 24, 2023 | ||
| Location | Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | 23XI Racing | ||
| Time | 28.672 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | |
| Laps | 112 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | USA | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Doug Rice and Mark Garrow | ||
| Turn Announcers | Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
Report
Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
- (P) denotes playoff driver.
- (OP) denotes owner’s playoffs car.
Practice
Michael McDowell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.068 seconds and a speed of 185.771 mph (298.969 km/h).[10]
Practice results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 29.068 | 185.771 |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 29.069 | 185.765 |
| 3 | 8 | Kyle Busch (P) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.096 | 185.593 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Bubba Wallace scored the pole for the race with a time 28.672 of and a speed of 188.337 mph (303.099 km/h).[11]
Qualifying results
Race
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 17 | Chris Buescher (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott (OP) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 85
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott (OP) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 6 | Brad Keselowski (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 102
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 47 |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 38 |
| 3 | 1 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 267 | 37 |
| 4 | 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 41 |
| 5 | 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 42 |
| 6 | 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 31 |
| 7 | 3 | 6 | Brad Keselowski (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 267 | 34 |
| 8 | 8 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 30 |
| 9 | 24 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 28 |
| 10 | 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 30 |
| 11 | 29 | 9 | Chase Elliott (OP) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 36 |
| 12 | 14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 25 |
| 13 | 28 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 24 |
| 14 | 2 | 17 | Chris Buescher (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 267 | 38 |
| 15 | 17 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 267 | 28 |
| 16 | 19 | 42 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 267 | 0 |
| 17 | 16 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 20 |
| 18 | 21 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 19 |
| 19 | 26 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 18 |
| 20 | 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 267 | 17 |
| 21 | 20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 16 |
| 22 | 34 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 0 |
| 23 | 25 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 14 |
| 24 | 33 | 38 | Zane Smith (i) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 267 | 0 |
| 25 | 15 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 267 | 22 |
| 26 | 27 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 262 | 11 |
| 27 | 32 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 261 | 10 |
| 28 | 23 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 258 | 20 |
| 29 | 6 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 255 | 8 |
| 30 | 12 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 255 | 16 |
| 31 | 11 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 248 | 16 |
| 32 | 35 | 15 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 241 | 0 |
| 33 | 4 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 77 | 4 |
| 34 | 7 | 8 | Kyle Busch (P) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 72 | 3 |
| 35 | 36 | 51 | Todd Gilliland | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 52 | 2 |
| 36 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 22 among 13 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 11 for 55 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 28 seconds
- Average speed: 123.569 miles per hour (198.865 km/h)
Media
Television
USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
| USA | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dave Burns Kim Coon Marty Snider |
Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow covered the action for PRN when the field races down the front straightaway. Nick Yeoman covered the action for PRN from a platform outside of Turns 1 & 2, & Mark Jaynes covered the action from a platform outside of Turns 3 & 4 for PRN. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini had the call from pit lane for PRN.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow | Turns 1 & 2: Nick Yeoman Turns 3 & 4: Mark Jaynes | Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Wendy Venturini |
Standings after the race
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- "Texas Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- Taranto, Steven (September 14, 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. September 14, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 18, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
- "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- "AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- Utter, Jim (September 23, 2023). "McDowell leads NASCAR Cup practice at Texas; Bell spins". Motorsport.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Motorsport Network. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- Utter, Jim (September 23, 2023). "Bubba Wallace takes pole position for Texas Cup race". Motorsport.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Motorsport Network. Retrieved September 23, 2023.