The 2023 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was a
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
race held on September 24, 2023, at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
. 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
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series was the 75th season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 52nd season for the modern-era NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. The season started with the Busch Light Clash at the Los An ...
season, fourth race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 12.
Report
Background
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
is a
speedway
Speedway may refer to:
Racing Race tracks
*Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida.
*Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta.
*Indianapolis Motor Spe ...
located in the northernmost portion of the
U.S.
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
city of
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
– the portion located in
Denton County, Texas
Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton, Texas, Denton. The county, which ...
. The track measures 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
Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...
and
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...
(formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by
Speedway Motorsports
Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has its headquarters ...
, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...
.
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 .
Practice results
Qualifying
Bubba Wallace
William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (born October 8, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing.
Wallace was previously a dev ...
scored the pole for the race with a time 28.672 of and a speed of .
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One
''Laps:'' 80
Stage Two
''Laps:'' 85
Final Stage results
Stage Three
''Laps:'' 102
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:
Media
Television
USA
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
covered the race on the television side.
Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...
,
Steve Letarte
Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and TV sportscaster who works as a color commentator for ''Amazon Prime'', ''TNT'' and ''NASCAR on NBC''. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, a ...
and 2000 Texas winner
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...
called the race from the broadcast booth.
Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on
Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
The following is a list of channels on Sirius XM and Sirius XM Canada. There are over 150 full-time channels on Sirius XM, over 140 of which are on Sirius XM Canada. Not included are channels that are specifically used for live sports programmin ...
. 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
Wendy Venturini (born January 30, 1979) is an American reporter for the Performance Racing Network (PRN). She works as broadcaster for NASCAR Cup Series races and sometimes as a pit reporter for races on PRN. She had been a pit reporter in the NA ...
had the call from pit lane for PRN.
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
{{2023 NASCAR Cup
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500
NASCAR races at Texas Motor Speedway
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500