Cup Series Race at COTA Teed Up for Ultimate Drama as Track Limit Racks Up Victims

Ask a Formula One fan how annoying track limits can be and they will give you an accurate answer. NASCAR also is not immune from the white lines on both sides of the track and for drivers who are not adept at running on twisty circuits (road courses). This was proved in the Truck and Xfinity Series races of the weekend as they saw a combined 37 track limit penalties. 20 of them came in Trucks and 17 came in Xfinity at COTA.

It seems like the Cup Series will also be affected by this. Keeping it straight within the white lines on a road course is a basic task for other forms of motorsport but it’s quite a challenge for these guys. However, it’s not entirely their fault. Ovals are what these racers grow up racing and the Next-Gen car’s weight also makes it very difficult to judge a corner.

Who received the harshest COTA track limit penalties?

One of the biggest penalties involving track limits came after the second stage of the Xfinity Series. Brandon Jones won the stage but that was taken away after it was revealed that he had cut a corner. It must have been an extremely disappointing moment, as the driver had not had any big moments like that so far this season. As a result, Riley Herbst was awarded with the stage victory.

The esses was the section that seemed to cause issues for most of the drivers and that is where Jones went off track. However, he was not alone. Kaulig Racing star AJ Allmendinger was one of the best racers on the day as he ran high up the pack fighting for the lead but a track limit violation at the esses dropped him to the back of the pack and he never recovered.

After the event, the veteran race car driver was pretty disappointed. It was not just the track limit violation that NASCAR gave a penalty for. The veteran set off a multi-car pile-up which made things a lot worse. The pass-through penalty became a tail of the longest line penalty and the driver of the #16 was left out of contention.

AJ Allmendinger reacts to race-ruining penalty

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Allmendinger believes that he got the worst of the penalties but said that it was something he expected. The veteran is a 2-time winner at COTA but he could not make it three despite running amongst the leaders for the most part. He did enjoy his battle with Shane van Gisbergen, however.

“I thought SVG and I had the dominant cars. He was a little bit better on that last run there. I got too free, so we were probably going to come home one-two, and that was the way it was going to go,” he said as per Frontstretch. “Once the caution comes out in these late races, especially these road courses, anything could happen. So, you expect the worst and hope for the best, and we got the worst of it,” he added when asked about his penalty.

The Xfinity Series race was a nail-biter and there is a lot of excitement for the Cup Series guys to get their machinery on track and do what they do best. Who do you think will win the race at COTA? Let us know your thoughts.

Read More – A.J. Allmendinger Pleads Innocence After Wrecking Out Joe Gibbs’s Road Course Master