William Byron takes the checkered flag at the Circuit of The America: Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron turned in a steady and inspired drive to earn the NASCAR Cup Series victory from pole position in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas road course Sunday, holding off the field by less than a second but dominating the field when he needed to.[Read More]
#24-William Byron won the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas. The win is his 2nd win of the year, 1st at COTA and 12th career win.
#20-Christopher Bell finished 2nd followed by #54-Ty Gibbs, #48-Alex Bowman, #45-Tyler Reddick, #13-A.J. Allmendinger, #1-Ross Chastain, #17-Chris Buescher, #8-Kyle Busch, and #19-Martin Truex, Jr.
Byron started from the pole and led 42 of the 68 laps. A late charge by Christopher Bell came up short at Byron won by .7 second.
Stage 1 was won by #20-Christopher Bell. Stage 2 was won by #11-Denny Hamlin.
There were 11 lead changes among 7 drivers and 2 cautions for 4 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 82.224mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
UPDATE: The #51 of Justin Haley was disqualified for not meeting minimum post-race weights.
Race Fast Facts – COTA:
William Byron won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, his 12th victory in 222 Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in four races at Circuit of The Americas.
Christopher Bell (second) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at Circuit of The Americas. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2024.
Ty Gibbs (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Circuit of The Americas.
Zane Smith (20th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 5 points over Ty Gibbs.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after COTA:
Race 6 of 26 in the regular season
1) #24-William Byron [2 wins], 183
2) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 206
3) #5-Kyle Larson [1 win], 204
4) #20-Christopher Bell [1 win], 183
5) #99-Daniel Suarez [1 win], 147
6) #19-Martin Truex, Jr., 220 [points leader]
7) #54-Ty Gibbs, 215, -5
8) #12-Ryan Blaney, 211, -9
9) #1-Ross Chastain, 182, -38
10) #9-Chase Elliott, 173, -47
11) #45-Tyler Reddick, 171, -49
12) #48-Alex Bowman, 165, -55
13) #17-Chris Buescher, 153, -67
14) #8-Kyle Busch, 150, -70
15) #42-John Hunter Nemechek, 144, -76
16) #6-Brad Keselowski, 134, -86
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag at 6:35pm/et. William Byron picks up his second win of the season and first at COTA. He started from the pole and led 42 laps today.
Lap 68 – White flag for William Byron. His lead is 1.7 second over Bell. It’s his race to lose.
Lap 67 – Two laps remaining, Byron over Bell by 2.4 seconds.
Lap 66 – Byron’s lead has shrunk to less than three seconds, but he seems to be saving some fuel. Bell gets around Gibbs to take second.
Lap 65 – 4 to go. Byron’s lead still 3.5 over Gibbs and 4.1 over Bell.
Lap 64 – Gibbs has fallen 3.7 seconds back of Byron while Bell has closed to 4.7 back. McDowell takes his car behind the wall. He’s in last and been battling a power steering issues through half the race.
Lap 63 – 6 laps remaining. Byron’s lead over Gibbs is 2.8 seconds. Christopher Bell is now up to third, 5.5 seconds back.
Lap 61 – Byron’s lead is consistent at 3 seconds, but Gibbs moves around Bowman to take second. Fourth place Bell has closed to within 6.5 seconds. 8 laps remaining.
Lap 59 – 10 laps remaining. Byron continues to lead. He’s trailed by Bowman (-3.8 seconds), Gibbs (-4.3 seconds), Bell (-9 seconds), and Reddick (-14 seconds).
Lap 55 – 14 laps remaining. Byron leads Bowman by 2.7 seconds.
Lap 54 – Another spin by Kobayashi. He continues on.
Lap 53 – The top 10 are: Byron, Bowman, Gibbs, Reddick, Chastain, Bell, Buescher, Allmendinger, Busch, LaJoie.
Lap 52 – Truex pits for the final time and Byron is back in the lead with 17 lap remaining.
Lap 51 – Now Truex, Byron, Bowman, Blaney, and Gibbs the top 5.
Lap 50- Bell now pits and Truex takes over the lead. 19 to go. Byron is up to 5th.
Lap 48 – Reddick pits. Bell takes the lead now. 21 laps remaining.
Lap 47 – Gibbs pits from the lead. Reddick now leads.
Lap 46 – Byron and Chastain are pitting from lead. Gibbs takes the lead.
Lap 45 – So drivers making what should be their final pit stops of the day. Leaders stay out.
Lap 44 – Byron takes the lead from Chastain. Keselowski spins again but continues.
Lap 40 – #8-Busch spun after contact from Bell but continued. Byron is closing in on Chastain for the lead, now a half second back.
Lap 39 – Pass through penalty for #9-Elliott for cutting the course.
Lap 38 – Chastain now leads Byron by 1.5 second. Third place Gibbs is 2.3 seconds back. Reddick has fallen to 7th.
Lap 36 – Top 5 are Chastain, Gibbs, Byron, Reddick, and Bowman.
Lap 34 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. Byron leads Gibbs, Chastain, Reddick, Bowman, Dillon, Busch, Buescher, Haley and Bell. Everyone still need to pit again before the end. 35 laps remaining. #1-Chastain takes the lead on the restart. Preece spins but continues.
Lap 33 – Drivers that had not pitted come down pit road. Byron will take the lead again with Gibbs second.
Lap 32 – McDowell on pit road with the hood up. Possible steering issue.
Lap 31 – Caution out for the end of stage 2. Hamlin wins it.
Lap 30 – Final lap in stage 2. Hamlin leads Blaney, Truex, Gilliland, Preece, Keselowski, Nemechek, Byron, Hemric, and Berry.
Lap 29 – #24-Byron #54-Gibbs, and #1-Chastain pit from the front, just before pit road closes. #11-Hamlin takes the lead.
Lap 28 – Reddick pits from 2nd place, as do several others.
Lap 26 – Byron leads with 5 lap left in stage 2. Reddick runs second, then Gibbs, Chastain, Allmendinger, Bowman, Busch, Elliott, Van Gisbergen, and Haley. Some drivers pit. #16-Van Gisbergen too fast on pit road. #47-Stenhouse and #50-Kobayashi have contact and spin, but continue on.
Lap 24 – Bell now pits for the first time today as well. #99-Suarez pits but is caught speeding.
Lap 23 – McDowell make his first pit stop of the day. He is running the race on a two-stop strategy.
Lap 22 – #5-Larson spins, but continues. On older tires, #20-Bell and #34-McDowell are dropping back. Bell now runs 5th with McDowell back to 13th.
Lap 21 – #4-Berry spins.
Lap 20 – #24-Byron moves around Bell to retake the lead. #23-Wallace spins after contact from #6-Keselowski. Wallace has to pit.
Lap 19 – Back to green for the start of the second stage. It will end after 30 laps. Bell and McDowell still out front. Then Byron, Gibbs, Reddick, Chastain, Busch, Allmendinger, Larson, and Hamlin rounding out the top 10.
Lap 18 – Most of the drivers that had not pitted now come in. Bell stays out to keep the lead. McDowell stays out as well.
Lap 16 – Caution out for the end of stage 1. #20-Christopher Bell wins it.
Lap 15 – Final lap in stage 1: #20-Bell, #99-Suarez, #34-McDowell, #2-Cindric, #3-Dillon, #47-Stenhouse, Jr., #24-Byron, #54-Gibbs, #45-Reddick, and #1-Chastain. The top six have not pitted.
Lap 14 – Byron and Gibbs pit from the lead. Bell stays out and takes the lead.
Lap 13 – More pit stops, including #45-Reddick #8-Busch, #9-Elliott, and most of the rest of the field. The top 3 drivers: Byron, Gibbs, and Bell stayed out.
Lap 12 – Some drivers pitting before the end of the stage: #41-Preece, #17-Buescher, #22-Logano, Blaney.
Lap 11 – #14-Briscoe penalized for cutting the course.
Lap 9 – 6 laps left in stag 1. Byron leads Gibbs by 2.5 seconds. Bell has moved to third, with Reddick and Chastain following. All 39 drivers are on the lead lap.
Lap 7 – Gibbs has moved around Reddick to retake second place. However, he’s over three seconds behind Byron.
Lap 5 – #42-Nemechek with a pass through penalty for cutting the course.
Lap 4 – After 3 complete laps, Byron continues to lead with Reddick, #54-Gibs, #20-Bill, and #1-Chastain rounding out the top 5.
Lap 2 – #19-Truex and #23-Wallace to pit road. #21-Burton spins but continues on.
Lap 1 – #24-Byron leads at the conclusion of lap 1. #45-Reddick is second.
3:52pm/et – Green flag for the race. Byron and Gibbs up front.
3:39pm/et – Engines fired at COTA.
3:30pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
3:14pm/et – Add #66-Timmy Hill to the rear, also for unapproved adjustments.
3:09pm/et – Still just two cars to the rear today. Both #17-Buescher and #41 Preece for unapproved adjustments.
Race Details –
Broadcast: FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 68 laps / 231.88 miles
Stages: 15 / 30 / 68
Average time of race: 3:19:33
Pit road speed: 40 mph
Caution car speed: 50 mph
Fuel Window: 23 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 2:30:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 2:31:00 p.m.
Command: 2:38:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 2:49:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #17-Buscher (unapproved adjustments), #41-Preece (unapproved adjustments), #66-Hill (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas have been made.
Pole winner #24-William Byron chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #54-Ty Gibbs took the 9th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the COTA Pit Stall page.
#24-William Byron won the Busch pole for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas with a speed of 94.696mph for his 1st pole of the year, 2nd at COTA and 13th of his career.
#45-Ty Gibbs will start second followed by, #45-Tyler Reddick, #20-Christopher Bell, #7-Corey LaJoie, #1-Ross Chastain, #19-Martin Truex, Jr., #11-Denny Hamlin, #9-Chase Elliott and #23-Bubba Wallace.
See the complete qualifying results and the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Starting Lineup.
Circuit of the Americas – Qualifying Fast Facts:
William Byron won the Pole Award for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix with a lap of 129.636
seconds, 94.696 mph.
This is his 13th pole in 222 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2024.
This is his second pole in four races at Circuit of The Americas.
Ty Gibbs (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2024 and his first in two races at Circuit of The Americas.
Tyler Reddick (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Circuit of The Americas. It is his third in six races this season.
Carson Hocevar (18th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas is over. The results:
#24-William Byron 944.703
#54-Ty Gibbs 94.681
#48-Alex Bowman 94.415
#23-Bubba Wallace 94.260
#20-Christopher Bell94.226
Slowest: #66-Timmy Hill 89.009
Most laps run: #12-Ryan Blaney, 18 laps
No drivers ran 10 consecutive laps.
Notes: Practice was divided into two 20 minute sessions each for group A and group B.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas is posted, 39 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Some notable entries: #13-A.J. Allmendinger, #16-Shane van Gisbergen, #50-Kamui Kobayashi, #66-Timmy Hill.
See the full entry list on the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Circuit of the Americas
Race rules and information:
