NASCAR's popular Craftsman Truck race will set the stage for Sunday's big event at COTA

For a diehard racing fan, NASCAR's annual stop at Circuit of the Americas provides an opportunity to see all three major series on the same weekend. About half of NASCAR's venues offer that.

Saturday serves up a doubleheader, with the XPEL 225 Craftsman Truck race, the only road course race of the year for that series, followed by the Focused Health 250 Xfinity race. Sunday is the big one, with the Cup Series' EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

"It's the ideal place not only to catch a lot of racing, but young stars on the rise," race director Bryan Hammond said, "plus you get a number of Cup stars doubling up by running in two events."

Bohls: Journey Brown's path has taken him from Penn State football to a NASCAR pit crew

Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, is making his first Xfinity start of the year. A.J. Allmendinger will double up in Xfinity, as will Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs, who owns four Xfinity road course wins. John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club also will run Saturday and Sunday. Ross Chastain, who won the 2022 COTA Cup race, is doubling up and doing the truck race. Chastain is the only driver with top-five finishes in all three Cup races here.

A look at drivers on the rise

This weekend in Austin also gives fans a chance to catch notable up-and-comers:

∙ Rajah Caruth is one of only two Black drivers in NASCAR's three upper divisions. The 21-year-old senior at Winston-Salem State (N.C.) already has broken through, winning the Las Vegas truck race earlier this month. He, Bubba Wallace and Wendell Scott are the three Black drivers to win at NASCAR's national level.

Caruth, in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevy, taught himself to race playing computer games.

"Man, there were a lot of days, especially in high school, I did not think I could get here," he told reporters after his Vegas victory. "I can't tell you how many times I was an internship — working like at the basketball court, in the box office, just on my website when I was just iRacing — when I didn't think this would be possible."

∙ Connor Zilisch is even younger. All of 17 years old, the Charlotte, N.C., native will make his national series debut in Austin, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevy. When the race is over, he'll hop in a private jet and head to Pensacola, Fla., to compete in a feeder series race Saturday night.

Zilisch, fast-tracked for success, was discovered by longtime Cup standout Kevin Harvick when he was a go-kart teammate of Harvick's son Keelan. Zilisch grew up wanting to race open-wheel cars.

"Kevin kind of suggested I look into stock car racing, and he got me my first race when I was 15," Zilisch told The Associated Press. "I qualified on the pole and was leading until the engine broke. It was good enough to get me a ride, and now I'm gradually working my way up."

Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks said, "This kid is an amazing talent. He'll run a variety of series this year and slowly get his feet wet. He has a big, big future."

Another advantage the weekend offers is a chance to see world-class road course specialists who aim to test their skills at the 20-turn, 3.43-mile course:

∙ Shane van Gisbergen, a New Zealander, shocked the NASCAR world by winning his debut Cup race last summer on the streets of Chicago. He'll drive the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in the Cup race and the No. 97 car in Xfinity.

"The racing at COTA looks insane," the 34-year-old said. "It looks like a free-for-all; it's crazy. Learning to get midcorner and just open the wheel and, basically, drive off the track, it's been an adjustment."

∙ IndyCar standout Marco Andretti is trying his hand at the truck race in the No. 04 Chevrolet.

∙ Kamui Kobayashi has plenty of experience at COTA, though in the sleek, open-wheel Formula One cars, not the NASCAR beasts.

"I've raced five times at COTA, including F1 and WEC," said the Japanese driver of the No. 150 Toyota for 23XI Racing, owned by the iconic Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. "This will be very different, but I do know the track well."

∙ Ed Jones, an IndyCar veteran for Chip Ganassi, and former IndyCar driver Sage Karam are in the Xfinity event, and Britain's Jack Hawksworth, coming off a win at 12 Hours of Sebring, will make his truck series debut.

"All these road course specialists make the competition even tougher," Chastain said. "Bring ’em on."

Race weekend

Through Sunday at Circuit of the Americas

Tickets: Weekend passes from $79 grounds to $220 main grandstand club, $30-$90 Saturday only, $70-$185 Sunday only

Saturday schedule (FS1): Cup Series practice, 9-10:30 a.m., and qualifying, 10:30-11:30 a.m.; XPEL 225 Craftstman Truck race, 12:30 p.m.; Focused Health 250 Xfinity Series race, 4 p.m.

Sunday schedule (Fox): Entertainment and driver Q&As, 10 a.m.; Riley Green pre-race concert, 12:45 p.m.; military band performance, 1 p.m.; EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race, 2:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: NASCAR truck series offers a look at racing's rising drivers