“Can always count on NASCAR to make a stupid decision”: Fans react to recent change at the COTA road course

The sanctioning body has proposed a major change to the road course ahead of NASCAR's fifth outing on the Circuit of the Americas in 2025. This drastic change has received flak from fans on social media.

COTA made its global debut in 2012. The 3.426-mile-long Austin-based circuit hosted its first-ever race, the 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Since then, the new-age race track has become home to F1, MotoGP, the AMA Superbike series, the GT series, the NASCAR Cup, and the Xfinity series.

Unlike the premier open-wheel (F1) and motorcycle (MotoGP) series which have been racing on the track since 2012 and 2013 respectively, NASCAR added the facility to its calendar in 2021. Despite being relatively new, the NASCAR community has grown fond of the long road course due to its long straights and overall elevation changes.

However, for the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA, NASCAR has proposed a drastic change by removing the straights to reduce the track length to 2.3 miles. Senior journalist Bob Pockrass shared the update by the sanctioning body on his X page.

Here's a look at the post, captioned:

"COTA course change for NASCAR: Instead of the full course, will cut off the long straightaways and make the turn to the back half right after the esses (the national course, 2.3 miles). Expect Cup race to be about 100 laps; Xfinity TBD."

Since the above-mentioned post went live, several fans have criticized NASCAR for altering the road course. Here's a look at a few responses:

"You can always count on NASCAR to make a stupid decision"

"Me: “Nascar can’t possibly shoot themselves in the foot any more than they already have.” Nascar: “Hold my beer.”"

"why must nascar ruin everything," a fan wrote.

"So you took away the only passing zone?" another fan responded.

"Doesn’t fix the issue that the cars aren’t very good on road courses, a fan quipped.

"NASCAR yet again making a change that no one asked for," another fan complained.

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"Gosh, this place is awesome"- Cup Series race winner Ross Chastain praised the new COTA layout after a few virtual laps on iRacing

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA in the 2022 season. The Florida-born racer praised the new proposed layout for the 2025 EchoPark race after a few virtual laps on iRacing.

"It’s going to be like basically going to a new track, a new town, new area. It flows together nice, and (Turn) 12 (of the Full Course) will really change since we don’t have that long backstretch. Once I get to (Turn) 13, though, it’s all going to be the same. I’ll get my normal speed I was at last year. Gosh, this place is awesome," Chastain explained.

"And this will be a race that we look forward to and put a lot of time into the simulator like we already talked about ahead of time. Look at the test data. See if one of us maybe could test and get some real, real track time and then go race," he added.

As for the 2024 season, Chastain finished 19th in the drivers' championship, with 14 top 10s, six top fives, one pole position, and one win.