Ryan Blaney led the field to green in his No. 12 Nascar Next Gen Ford Mustang at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on March 27th, but The Blue Oval’s success at the 3.41-mile road course waned at the end.
It didn’t take long for second-place qualifier, Daniel Suarez, to assume the lead in his No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, while Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang was relegated to second. The No. 99 and No. 12 battled back and forth for the lead throughout the first stage, but the green checkered flag flew over Suarez’s Camaro ahead of Blaney’s Mustang.
Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric took the point in the No. 2 Mustang once the green flag fell on Stage 2, but he showed the way for only a few short laps before eventual winner Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Camaro and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry tracked him down.
In hopes of advancing their position, Blaney in the No. 12 Mustang and Joey Logano in the No. 22 Mustang elected to stay off Pit Road when Stage 2 ended. When the green flag flew for the final stage of the race, Logano locked up the brakes of the No. 22 and spun out, forcing Blaney’s No. 12 to run wide and open the door for Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro to assume the lead. A few laps later, Cindric’s No. 2 Mustang spun out after jumping the curb in Turn 10.
As the laps wound down, it became clear that the Nascar Chevy teams would be the ones to beat. Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro continued to lead while the No. 14 Mustang of Chase Briscoe entered the picture for the race lead. However, Briscoe’s No. 14 made contact with the No. 1 Camaro of Chastain, forcing Briscoe out of contention.
Logano’s No. 22 Ford spun out once again, forcing the race at COTA into a Nascar Overtime finish. At the end, Chastain’s No. 1 Chevy did battle with the No. 16 Camaro of AJ Allmendinger and the No. 48 Camaro of Alex Bowman. Chastain made contact with Allmendinger and sent him into Bowman, deciding the race. The victory marked Chastain’s first career Nascar Cup Series win.
Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang clawed its way to a sixth-place finish, the best of the Nascar Ford racing teams.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 1 | Ross Chastain | ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet | 69 | 31 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 69 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Llumar Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 4 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 3CHI Chevrolet | 69 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 69 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 17 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 69 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 69 | 11 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bennett Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 18 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 24 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 26 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Wyndham Rewards Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 9 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 29 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Boot Barn Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 19 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Freightliner Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 69 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 19 | 25 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 33 | 42 | Ty Dillon | chevyliners.com Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 34 | 77 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 3 | 41 | Cole Custer | One Cure Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 2 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 69 | 15 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 31 | 50 | * Kaz Grala(i) | Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 37 | 66 | * Boris Said | Bumper.com Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 69 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Skittles Lime is Back Toyota | 69 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 14 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 69 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 69 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 11 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Toyota | 69 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 33 | 20 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 68 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 36 | 27 | * Loris Hezemans(i) | Hezeberg Systems Ford | 62 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 38 | 15 | Joey Hand | Ford Pass Rewards Visa Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 57 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | SunnyD Chevrolet | 52 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 38 | 23 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | leidos Toyota | 44 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 39 | 39 | 78 | Andy Lally(i) | MaintenanceSupplies.com Ford | 19 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
- # – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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