TC Daily Pit Stop: Busch, Stenhouse Car Chiefs Ejected; Larson, Zilisch Score Xfinity and Truck Poles at COTA; Kobayashi Impresses in Simulator Ahead of COTA Start; Saturday's TV Schedule
TC Daily Pit Stop: Saturday, March 23, 2024
Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Car Chiefs Ejected After Multiple Failed Inspection Attempts
Prior to NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying on Saturday morning, the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing and No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing cars suffered two failed attempts at pre-race inspection in the garage at Circuit of the Americas.
As a result, the car chiefs for the teams of Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have been ejected for the remainder of the weekend. Both cars passed on their third attempt, so the drivers will be allowed to qualify, and will start Sunday’s race from their earned positions.
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Kyle Larson Earns Xfinity Series Pole at Circuit of The Americas
Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who is making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports entry, will do so from the pole.
Larson bested NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender and road racing expert Shane van Gisbergen by more than four-tenths of a second in the final round of qualifying to secure his seventh-career Xfinity Series pole position.
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STARTING LINEUP / QUALIFYING RESULTS
PRACTICE RESULTS
Connor Zilisch Outpaces Field for Pole in Truck Debut at COTA
It’s official — 17-year-old Connor Zilisch is here. The young Trackhouse Racing development driver, who was part of the winning team in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, took the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas by nearly 3/4 of a second over Corey Heim.
In doing so, Zilisch becomes just the seventh driver in Truck Series history to win the pole in his debut event, per TobyChristie.com’s Joseph Srigley. Now, Zilisch will set out to score the win in his debut race.
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STARTING LINEUP / QUALIFYING RESULTS
PRACTICE RESULTS
Kamui Kobayashi Turning Heads in Simulator Ahead of COTA Start
Could Kamui Kobayashi be a threat for a top-10 finish, or perhaps a win in his second-career NASCAR Cup Series start? If simulator prep work leading into the weekend is any indicator, it’s possible.
According to Denny Hamlin, Kobayashi has been turning laps consistently faster than even Tyler Reddick, who won this race a season ago, on the sim heading into this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas.
“In the sim, he’s just so fast,” Hamlin said in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “He’s faster than Tyler [Reddick], and Tyler is faster than me. And Tyler is faster than everyone when it comes to that – driving on a simulator on a road course, and he backs it up on the racetrack. And Kamui has been faster so far than him this week.”
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Boot Barn to Serve as Multi-Race Primary Sponsor for Austin Dillon, RCR
Richard Childress Racing and Boot Barn announced the formation of a dynamic partnership on Friday, which will include a multi-race primary sponsorship of Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team beginning with Pocono Raceway later this season. Boot Barn will also serve as an associate sponsor for the driver and team this season.
Additionally, Dillon will collaborate on strategic content with the brand.
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NASCAR TV Schedule: Saturday, March 23 at COTA
Saturday marks the busiest day of on-track action of the race weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Here is the TV schedule for all of the NASCAR programming on Saturday, March 23:
10:00 AM ET: NASCAR Cup Practice starts (FS2 / FOX Sports App)
10:30 AM ET: NASCAR Cup Practice finishes (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
11:30 AM ET: NASCAR Cup Qualifying (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
12:30 PM ET: NASCAR Truck RaceDay (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
1:30 PM ET: NASCAR Truck Race (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
4:00 PM ET: NASCAR Xfinity RaceDay (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
5:00 PM ET: NASCAR Xfinity Race (FS1 / FOX Sports App)
8:35 PM ET: ARCA East at Pensacola (FloRacing)
Perfect sponsor for Austin Dilllon - he needs to get the boot.