One team has won more NASCAR races at COTA than any other

gettyimages-1476038787 — AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 24: Zane Smith, driver of the #38 Speedco/Peak Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas on March 24, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

In six total NASCAR races at COTA – two each in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and CRAFTSMAN Truck series – the winningest team to date is Front Row Motorsports. The team is undefeated in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races with Todd Gilliland winning the COTA race in 2021 and Zane Smith earning the win last year en route to the season championship.

Smith will driving the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 in Saturday’s Truck Series race and Gilliland will be driving the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

“I think just going into a place where you’ve won before definitely gives you a sort of higher expectations and kind of confidence in general,” said Gilliland, who was 27th fastest in opening practice.

“Definitely different conditions that day, it was raining and kind of drying up, very challenging race but just really excited to come back here knowing I’ve won here.

“The race is going to be different this weekend with no stages,” Gilliland said. “It really has the potential to not be that different if we have a lot of cautions, but there’s the potential for the whole race going green.

“I think just knowing the race track really well – that [win] was the first time anyone had raced here at all,” he added. “And I don’t really come from a lot of road course racing background so to get a road course win was huge for me and I don’t think there’s a reason I can’t be good at road courses. It gives me a lot of confidence in general.”