By Logan Morris

Thomas Annunziata is looking forward to when the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads south of the border next week. I got a chance to ask the Cope Family Racing driver how he was feeling in preparation for the upcoming road course. 

“I love it. I’m a motorsports junkie. I love Formula 1. Going to COTA for the first time was the coolest thing. Now going to Mexico City on a Formula 1 track—that’s nuts. And we’re doing it on a huge stage: NASCAR. Sure, there’s controversy. People say it’s dangerous, but I think it’ll be interesting. We’re like 9,000 feet up. Engine builders say we’ll be 200 horsepower down. The culture will be fun. Just being part of it with the whole team—it’s going to be so different. I think the whole experience will be super fun, and if we cap it off with a good result, it’ll be one to remember.”

Annunziata is looking at the race in Mexico City as a chance to surprise some people. I asked him about his mindset regarding the race specifically, and what kind of momentum it could create for his season going forward. “If the win’s there, I’m going for it. If not, I’ll take what we get. If it’s a 10th-place car, we finish 10th. If it’s 5th, we finish 5th. The car should be really good. I think we got robbed at COTA when the engine blew up in qualifying. Top 10 is possible. We just need to build on a result. This will be a good baseline—we’ve got Watkins Glen, Sonoma, and Chicago coming up. Let’s see where we’re at when it comes to turning right.”

As he continues to gain more experience on ovals, he’s leaning on Cope Family Racing General Manager Derrike Cope for guidance. “ Derrike’s been racing for 30 years. I think he’s one of the few NASCAR drivers to be in for like, what, four or five decades? He’s got easily over a thousand starts. Everything he talks about is just so detailed—more detailed than I can even explain, and I’m the race car driver. He’s been out of the seat for a while, so it’s almost like a cheat code in a way. He’s got so much experience, he understands every situation I’m in, he understands the thought processes, the emotions going on, and even the nervousness or timidness I have before these races. He’s been in the situation a thousand times. He is a huge help.”

He feels like he’s making progress with the ovals, but he knows there’s more work to do “That’s a hard scale. In the beginning, I never struggled to be fast on an oval. I think it’s harder for an oval guy to go to a road course and be fast than for a road course guy to be fast on an oval. But it’s the racecraft that you’ve got to learn. I could be on pole position and still get my butt handed to me because I don’t know the racecraft. You’re not fighting for feet—you’re fighting for inches. From Phoenix to now, it’s night and day. I’m learning the air, how to be consistent, how to gain inches around the lap. I’m learning to manipulate the air and other drivers, which is cool, but I didn’t know how to do that in the beginning.”

You can catch Thomas Annuizanta in the No.70 for Cope Family Racing  when the Xfinity Series takes on Mexico City during The Chilango 150 at 4:30 PM EST.