The NASCAR Next Gen revolution: a mechanic's view at COTA.
It’s Saturday morning at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and Formula 1 champion Jenson Button is zipping up his drivers suit just a few feet away from me. He isn’t stepping into an F1 car but instead is getting ready to qualify for a NASCAR Cup race. Button isn’t the only Formula 1 champion in the field as Kimi Räikkönen is getting ready a few boxes down. IMSA champion Jordan Taylor and IndyCar driver Conor Daly are getting ready to qualify, too.
Even amid the busy paddock on Friday, the guest drivers made themselves easy to pick out; they were some of the first ones on site. It seemed like Conor Daly and Jordan Taylor made an appearance at their cars just minutes after those of us on the crews entered the garages. They were genuinely excited, sharing notes on what they had learned so far from some of the veterans.
The start of the qualifying session resulted in us being lined up beside Button and it was fascinating to see the entourage of people and media that came through the area. Button was focused on his qualifying effort and would eventually qualify 24th, just two spots behind Räikkönen. Taylor would be the most impressive of the guest drivers with a 4th place qualifying effort which started him ahead of multiple NASCAR champions.
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