After a week off, the NASCAR Truck Series will resume this weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Practice is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, with qualifying to start at 4 o’clock. The XPEL 225 race will get the green flag at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday. You can watch qualifying and the race on FS1 and live stream it on Sling TV (first-month discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial).
Set on 1,500 acres in the rolling hills just outside downtown Austin, Circuit of The Americas has hosted the biggest names in racing, action sports, and music since 2012. The race on the 3.426-mile-long track will cover more than 143 miles and feature 42 laps.
Zane Smith won here last year after starting seventh. The 2022 Series champion became the first repeat NASCAR winner at the Circuit of The Americas road course, holding off Kyle Busch. Smith, driving the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, led the final 15 laps and crossed the finish line 5.451 seconds ahead of Busch to give Front Row Motorsports its third win in Truck series races at COTA.
Todd Gilliland won the inaugural 2021 race.
- WATCH: FS1 and live stream practice, qualifying and the race on Sling TV (first-month discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial)
Ironically, it was Christian Eckes passing Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 159 and holding off the career truck series victory leader by 0.141 seconds at Bristol two weeks ago.
Smith was third, three-time series champion Matt Crafton fourth and Tyler Ankrum fifth.
One driver who will be getting plenty of attention is 17-year-old Connor Zillisch, who will make his national series debut that afternoon and then hop into a private jet and fly to Pensacola, Florida, to compete in a feeder series race later that night.
Born and raised in Charlotte and go-karting before he started school, Zilisch never had any interest in NASCAR. He prefered karting, liked racing in Europe, and followed that path, which led him to team with Keelan Harvick, who was only 8 at the time. When Keelan’s father Kevin could make it to a race, 15-year-old Zilisch received exposure and advice he once could only have dreamed of accessing, according to an Associated Press story.
“Kevin kind of suggested that I look into stock car racing, and he got me my first race in a stock car when I was 15, and I qualified on the pole and was leading the race until the engine broke,” Zilisch told The Associated Press. “It was good enough to get me a ride for the season after in the Trans-Am Series and that started my stock car transition.
Zilisch was briefly represented by Harvick’s management firm and in January signed a multi-year development deal with Trackhouse Racing.
“This kid is an amazing talent who we wanted to be a part of the Trackhouse family,” Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks said. “We are going to go slow with Connor and make sure he’s fully prepared as he advances in what we believe will be a long racing career.”
He’ll run a variety of different series this year in the CARS Tour, ARCA, Trans-Am, IMSA, Trucks, and, when he turns 18 later this year, is expected to enter four Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports.
In all, Zilisch figures he has 37 race weekends scheduled for this year spanning multiple series, beginning on Saturday.
What is Sling TV?
Sling lets you stream on-demand movies, live TV shows, and live sports instantly on all your favorite devices. Choose the channel package (Blue, Orange or Blue + Orange) that fits your tastes and take control of your TV streaming lineup. Live TV streaming services such as Sling TV save you money by offering channel bundles that let you customize your service so you’re not paying for dozens of channels that you’ll never watch.
What is DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream is a no-term commitment service. That means that you can enjoy the best of Live TV and On-demand local and national channels without the contracts. DirecTV Stream comes with a 7-day free trial, which is its best selling point.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
