“Some heavy sponsored walls”: NASCAR insider warns of ‘massive incident’ on driver’s mistake in the esses at COTA

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo took to social media to share a sneak-peek of one of many changes made to the Circuit of the Americas ahead of this weekend's race. One change NASCAR has made is adding heavy barriers throughout the esses of the Austin, Texas road course.

Alfredo posted a photo to his X account to show a photo of the new barrier and added the acronym "GLHF" that stands for good luck, have fun when he penned a message that read:

"400 lb walls in the esses GLHF #NASCAR"

This triggered a response from Toby Christie, a racing insider who's the editor-in-chief of Racing America on Sports Illustrated. Christie noted that before this year, if a driver went off course, they'd hit a "flimsy" small sponsor sign. Now, with 400-pound barriers, the insider fears there could be some big-time crashes in this weekend's event. He wrote:

"Previously, if a driver got out of line on a road course, they’d go through the little flimsy sponsor signs on the track. Now, that kind of mistake will seemingly result in a massive incident with some heavy sponsored walls placed in the esses at COTA. #NASCAR"

The barriers aren't the only changes being made at COTA this year. Amid its fifth Cup Series race at the track, NASCAR has shortened the track down from a 3.41-mile road course to a 2.3-mile layout. COTA was previously the longest track on the circuit. Now, it trails the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, which now returns as the circuit's longest track.

NASCAR has been hosting races at COTA since 2021. Chase Elliott won the inaugural event back in 2021 in a rain-shortened event. Since then, drivers like Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and William Byron have all picked up victories at the track. For Chastain, it was his first career Cup Series win.

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Circuit of the Americas hosts the third race of the NASCAR Cup Series season

After kicking off the 2025 campaign with two drafting track races at Daytona and Atlanta, the NASCAR Cup Series circuit is going road course racing this Sunday in Austin. Named the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the race at Circuit of the Americas will be held over 95 laps to determine the winner of the third race of the season.

Christopher Bell will aim to make it back-to-back wins in the Cup Series after winning at Atlanta last week. Meanwhile, this year's Daytona 500 winner William Byron enters as the defending winner at COTA and aims to bounce back after crashing at Atlanta last week.

This weekend's Cup race will also feature the debut of Connor Zilisch, who won on his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen last season. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen, who won on his Cup debut at the Chicago street course in 2023, will seek his second career Cup victory.