Josh Bilicki vs. Kris Wright: Full Breakdown

DGM Racing Heads to Circuit of the Americas (COTA)

After a chaotic finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, this week DGM Racing heads to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas with JoshBilicki vs Kris Wright. COTA is known for beating and fanging, wild finishes, and pushing boundaries. So be prepared to cowboy up and tear some equipment up. Drivesmart is a proud sponsor of DGM Racing.

Drivers Ryan Ellis and Josh Bilicki know this is an opportunity. And they’ll be putting it all on the line at COTA.

So today’s easy. All we have on the board is practice and qualifying. The big show is gonna be tomorrow. So stay tuned as I take you through the in and outs of COTA and DGM racing. Now last week, Atlanta, big crash happened on the final lap. The car was destroyed. Walk me through it. Yeah, it was unfortunate.

Uh, you know, we were running top 20 for most of stage three, uh, not very far behind Ryan and, uh, there was a restart with I think two or three laps to go. I chose the bottom. It worked for us earlier in the race, uh, but I needed a good car behind me to give me a push and nobody chose the bottom. So we lost two or three spots on that restart.

I think it was like 20. Second, 23rd, uh, taking the white flag. I had a big run. I went three wide, passed a couple cars and that was in another three wide situation after that. But kind of back to where I had been when I restarted 19 20th, uh, bottom of three. And coming off turn two the officer to wreck in front of us.

Recap: Chaos and Crashes at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Uh, I thought we were gonna be good and then, and clearly to kind of drive through it and have another top of team finish. Uh, but the car to my outside, uh, we got into each other. It’s kind of a racing deal. Nothing he did wrong. Nothing I don’t think I did wrong. Uh, but we got into each other and when we doored each other.

He lost control. He had a car to the outside of him. His car was already kind of well, well, well, and he, he lost it and tagged my, uh, my right rear, which spun me. So, uh, I hate that we killed the car. I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve. I feel like even a 15th, 14th place finish, uh, you know, that would have been two of the top 15s back to back.

NASCAR vs. Formula One: What Makes COTA Unique?

So, uh, we just got to rebound this weekend and hopefully make up for that. So when I say Formula One is a bit more different than NASCAR, take a look at this. We have wall graffiti behind me. I’ve never seen this at a NASCAR race. COTA Cafe here. I gotta go see what that’s about.

Soon, both cars successfully cleared tech and was ready for practice and qualified. So I’m here with Brian Ellis and you’re a road driver. We’re headed into the first road course race of the year, Koda. What’s the expectations going into this weekend? Man, I’m boring. Cause I feel like I’ve watched these videos.

It’s like, they’ve changed it so much at this track, which makes it exciting. I mean, literally they’ve repaved certain sections. They’ve put curbing in new areas. We’re running new corners. Um, they’re changing it like two hours ago. Um, so not really sure what to expect and that’s kind of part of the fun.

Driver Insight: Ryan Ellis Discusses Expectations for COTA

Um, and just being with a new team and having seen the success of DGM and watched the three cars in the top 10 interview with Mario about a hundred times now, set the bar really high and just hoping to, you know, come out top 20, 25 in practice and qualify. Cool. Finally, final question. Who helps Sue more, you or Matt?

Uh, Matt doesn’t help me in the gym, if you can tell. Um, he got me about 25 pounds fatter before my wedding. We joke about that. Uh, I’m not as tan as him. Uh, so. He does my PR every week though, still. Still. I called him when he ran the iRacing lap and I was like, I don’t know if you know, but you’re running the wrong format.

I send the schedule for the weekend. Yeah. Literally none of that’s a joke. Yeah, no, he still takes care of me every week. Yeah. So I guess it’s a one sided thing. Let’s go. Well, like he topped 15 and that’s good for him and someone who’s all about road racing in his first start at Road America. And he did.

So he was a local guy right up in Wisconsin and he goes to the entry list. Who doesn’t have a driver? And he looks at all the TBAs and starts calling those teams, gets a call back, gets a ride. And he’s been racing in NASCAR now for the last nine years and he’ll pop up everywhere. Sometimes Xfinity, maybe it’s a cup race, maybe in the Crashman Truck Series, but always really good when we go road racing.

Josh Bilicki and Ryan Ellis Prepare for Qualifying

It’s about time to qualify from COTA. Both Josh Bilicki and Ryan Ellis are ready to go. Both great road drivers. They know it’s important to start up front. So one thing I do want to say about Texas is man, it is hot.

Second lap. So you must’ve not felt like the first lap was that good. Maybe made a mistake. That sort of thing. That’s the only reason I can see doing two. Because you really are going to start to lose grip in the rear tires. The brakes start to heat up too much. You lose the braking. Nothing gets better on the second lap.

Nothing gets better. You really have to have a large mistake on the first to make the second faster. And that’s a wrap for qualifying at COTA. I feel like both our cars had speed. So that’s very important rolling into tomorrow. I’m just super hyped up. I’m having fun, we’re getting a lot of really cool content, and man, tomorrow is going to be a blast.

Tomorrow is going to be everything. First Road Force of the season, hopefully we can turn this season around and do it in Texas. Good

Behind-the-Scenes: Experiencing COTA with NASCAR Fans

morning from COTA, Texas. We’re road course racing here today. Now, you’re probably wondering how last night went. Well, we went to this amazing barbeque spot in Texas. The DGM crew fed us good. My goodness, one of the best barbeque places I’ve ever been to. Now, thankfully, because of DriveSmart, we got to save a little bit of money on that one.

You’re probably wondering, Dustin, how did you save money on barbeque with DriveSmart? Well, you You get savings with the DriveSmart.Auto Club membership for only 8. 25 a month. You’re already wasting money on memberships that you’re not even using. How about you get something that you will actually use and something that you’re going to save more money on than that little 8.

25 a month membership. That said, let’s head to the track.COTA up, baby! So we’re going to start our COTA morning off by visiting the NASCAR campgrounds. We’re going to find exactly where the party’s at this morning. Love it every year. Cheers! Here’s some pork belly barbecue. Oh, wow! So what are we cooking up over here?

NASCAR Camping at COTA: Texas Tailgating Done Right

We got some pork butt going right now. Oh my goodness! Y’all do it different in Texas. Oh yeah. Wow! So, this is the Sparky Fan Plus. We’ve got our ducky Miss Stella here. She’s the real star of the show. Uh, the only woman I get to go to all the NASCAR races with me. But she’s, uh, she’s been a great sport.

And, yeah, we’re really excited. So we head from here to Phoenix. Uh, then Phoenix is a short trip up to, uh, Las Vegas. And then the long haul. That’ll be the real test. 2, 600 miles across the country to Homestead, Miami. So we got one of the best views here at COTA. Tell me a little bit about what went into building this.

Uh, well it’s actually our buddy Chris’s. Uh, you know, we’ve been coming to races for years now. We’ve been every year at Koda. And, uh, it was kind of a pet project of his, uh, Hey, we’re gonna create a compound. Let’s do it, right? Build a, build a lookout point. And, uh, let’s have a good time at NASCAR. Think I hit the jackpot on NASCAR.

camping. This is called Roxanne behind me. The back here is the, uh, is the bar. And, uh, of course the margarita machine. It has, uh, three ACs on it. It’s totally, uh, insulated and closed. And then the, uh, sound system, we got lights. We got a smoke machine. We got laser lights, uh, um, we got grab rails for safety.

Fan Zone Highlights: Family Fun at Circuit of the Americas

They have karaoke. We have actually on the microphones right here, we had to, instead of using cordless mics, they walk away. . We have the parties. All of a sudden somebody takes off. Little Steves right over here. And this is where you start cranking up the sound. Your love is strong, it still remains.

This is an 8 foot deck out the back. What inspired you to build ProxApp? Uh, you know, we, we, my friend loves to do karaoke and setting up everything. We wanted to control the party and really the weather. And we were just sitting there, you know, you sit around and you’re going, Man, it wouldn’t be cool if we had a bus.

And then we looked at a bus and you hit your head when you walk in a bus and it was like. Okay, now let’s take a bus and make it on the stairway. And, you know, the whole key to this thing is cutting the bus. You gotta have it raised up. And then we left the outside like a bus. And as we were cutting the bus up, the song Roxanne came on.

Race Day at COTA: Bilicki and Ellis Ready to Battle

Roxanne! Roxanne! It, it, it just kinda stuck. The NASCAR party is here at COTA. Man, I love coming down here, finding the NASCAR fans, finding the different environments, and basically what we have here, for every state, for every race. And Texas does it quite very differently. From everything I’ve seen, this has been incredible here at COTA.

We’re gonna head down to the Midway, find out what’s going on at the Fan Zone, and catch up with all the fun stuff going on. Behind me is the official Circuit of the America merch hauler, and hey, we got another magnet to add to our collection. You guys ain’t gonna believe this, they done brought the Stormtroopers out here.

So if you were wondering if NASCAR is family friendly, well, this is what we call the kid zone. And we got a little bit of everything from kids drawn on race cars by me, stormtroopers, RC cars, absolutely anything you can think of to bring the family to.

Just to show you guys how much is going on, there is a freaking rollercoaster behind me. And that’s one side. The other side is, there is a suspicious looking plant there that keeps moving.

Early Trouble at COTA: Ryan Ellis Spins

This is what we call the NASCAR Zone. Guard observation deck. After getting off on a massive elevator, you get taken to a point that you can see the entire track of COTA. If you’re scared of the heights, I would advise to go nowhere near this. So let’s wrap. For the fan zone, it is time to get back down to the infield and get ready to fire these race guards up because we’re going at spin.

Josh Bilicki Charges Forward Despite Pit Road Penalty

Series racing. I mean uh, I’m going to find him. I’m going He’s way back there. He’s way to the front. Alright. Alright. Ryan Ellis! Josh Bilicki! Ryan Ellis here on the grid. Ryan, how do you plan on hitting the out of the 51 every chance you get? Stay tuned. 500 starts, 500 hits. 500 hits? Okay. I want it to not look anything like that after the race.

Oh, it won’t. Oh, it won’t. Yeah. Josh, what’s the game plan to get to the front? Uh, survive. We gotta survive. Oh, we gotta start at the back anyway, so, um, we made some changes to the car, some fixes. I think we’ll be alright. We’ve got a really good card. Top 10 in practice. Waving from COTA, but Lookout because it’s going to be early trouble for Ryan Ellis as he’s going to go around on the first lap.

Race Day Drama: Ryan Ellis Spins Early, Bilicki Battles Forward at COTA

Fortunately, he didn’t hit anything. It wouldn’t be long until we’d seen the first yellow flag of the day. This gave Ryan Ellis the opportunity to catch back up. The green flag is back waving from COTA. Our long run pace was pretty good, right? Like I was judging off of the guys that were way up there ahead of me.

It seemed like we were even if not reeling in. Like around 91. Um, I think where I’m getting beat, honestly, is the slow stuff. Like I need a little bit more turn in the slow corners. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, right here. Wheel straight, foot on the brake.

All the way, all the way, down to speed, all the way. The yellow flag will fly away. Once again, officially ending the first stage as we begin stage number two, both the DGM drivers of Ryan Ellison, Josh Bilicki slowly working their way to the front, but the racing is getting more intense by the lap.

Late-Race Drama: Josh Bilicki Faces Another Setback

These drivers know that trouble can happen around any corner. Josh Bilicki. Is rocketing to the front of the field, up to 15th and counting. Steering pump is definitely way better. It’s a bluesy fix, by the way. And we’ve spent on pit roads, so just save tires. Save tires. What’s this for? Is it for speeding?

Speeding section 4. Sorry. I saw one red, but I thought we’d be okay. I’m good, bud. We still got a long way to go. We’ll figure out a way to get there. Stage number two will end. The race is officially on now. Unfortunately, Josh Bilicki got busted for speeding on pit road and will have to restart at the tail end of the field.

The green flag is back out with 20 laps remaining, but this is where the last two weeks of frustration will boil over for the 91 group. For the third consecutive week, Josh will get wrecked by the five car. This happened to Daytona. This happened. And this just happened again at COTA. Here’s what Josh had to say.

Race Recap and Final Thoughts from COTA

As the laps are winding down, Ryan Ellis has found his way up to the 16th position, where he will officially finish. Josh Bilicki was able to rebound to the 22nd position with a damaged race car. As you can see, there’s a cloud of smoke behind me. P16 for Ryan Ellis. I’ll take it, man. I told you the road courses are gonna be good for us.

And we showed it here today with a strong day from both drivers. So it’s just really cool. Next we got Phoenix, which is going to be an interesting one. Hey, let’s get after it. Phoenix next week. Hope you guys enjoy COTA.