NASCAR drivers' opinions vary on how non-NASCAR drivers will fare in Sunday's race

Some NASCAR drivers polled in Austin this week expect it to be difficult for the crossover stars from other motorsports to be competitive in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix.

Martin Truex Jr. begs to differ. The 2017 Cup Series champion from Trenton, N.J., said he can envision IMSA Corvette Racing's Jordan Taylor and ex-Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen being a factor. Taylor, who's raced and won at Circuit of the Americas in IMSA, is filling for seat for Chase Elliott, out with a broken leg.

"Oh, yeah, no question," Truex Jr. said. "Jordan is in the 9 car, one of the dominant cars on road courses. I'm sure he's capable and will figure it out quickly."

Taylor did, indeed. He posted the 10th fastest time in practice Friday, a top lap of 132.851. F1 alum Jenson Button was 28th, Raikkonen 32nd and IndyCar's Conor Daly 39th (of 39).

"Raikkonen was really good in his debut last year at Watkins Glen," said Truex, who was 21st in practice. "He has a strong team. That particular team won both Sonoma and Circuit of the Americas (with Ross Chastain). Their road-course program is at the high end. I'm not sure where Button is at with this, but it's a Stewart-Haas entry, so he'll have a good car as well."

Cup veterans Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin are among those who have their doubts. "They're about to enter the circus, and the animals here are ferocious," Keselowski said.

Truex, driver of the No. 19 Toyota for Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, welcomes the interlopers.

"It's cool to race with guys who've accomplished so much in other forms of racing. We're already doing some of that with the Euro series. For all us in NASCAR, it's a big deal that those guys wanna come race with us. A shot in the arm for NASCAR. ... Hopefully they're not too fast," he said with a smile.

Truex knows F1 is on the rise in America, but he fiercely defends his sport.

"They have two or three guys who pretty much win all the races, dominated by one manufacturer," he said. "We've had four different guys win in the first five races. We had like 16 winners last year. People tune in to F1 because it's a glitzy world-wide thing not because the racing is great. If you look at the on-track product, I don't think it holds a candle to NASCAR."

Truex, eighth in the points standings with a history of road course success, has something to prove at COTA. He wrecked out in the 2021 monsoon inaugural and was seventh last year.

"That first year rain was a disaster for me, not being able to see," he said. "Last year was better. We worked hard on our road course program in the offseason. I'm anxious to see what we have."

Cup practice: Tyler Reddick, who contended for the Texas Grand Prix win last year before finishing fifth, was the fastest in practice. Kyle Larson, second in the 2021 race, posted the second-best time, followed by defending race champ Ross Chastain. Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five. Qualifying is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Truck qualifying: Chastain, doubling up this weekend by running the XPEL 225, captured the pole position for Saturday's truck race. His top lap was 91.877 mph. Two-time Cup champ Kyle Busch, also doing the truck race, was second and Ty Majeski third. The truck race is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

TV additions: Guenther Steiner, team principal of Haas F1, and rehabbing Cup star Chase Elliott have signed on for Fox's coverage of Sunday's race.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: How will F1, other series racers fare in NASCAR race Sunday?