Dramatic victory at COTA gives Christopher Bell second straight NASCAR Cup win: Christopher Bell was prophetic. After winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 23, Bell said 2.4-mile, 17-turn Circuit of Americas was a track he had circled for another potential victory. Sure enough, after passing Kyle Busch for the lead and staving off defending race winner William Byron over the last five laps at COTA, Bell was a back-to-back winner in the Cup Series for the first time in his career, having claimed victory in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.[Read More]
#20-Christopher Bell 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 11th career win.
#24-William Byron finished 2nd followed by pole winner #45-Tyler Reddick, #9-Chase Elliott, #8-Kyle Busch, #88-Shane Van Gisbergen, #17-Chris Buescher, #4-Noah Gragson, #48-Alex Bowman, and #34-Todd Gilliland.
Kyle Busch lead 42 laps, but was passed by Bell with five laps remaining. Bell had to hold off a late charge by Byron but was able to win by just under a half second. Connor Zilisch, making his Cup debut, was involved in an accident midway through the race and finished 37th.
The fastest lap bonus was won by #5-Kyle Larson.
Stage 1 was won by #23-Bubba Wallace. Stage 2 was won by #60-Ryan Preece.
There were 20 lead changes among 9 drivers and 4 cautions for 15 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 73.025mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – COTA:
Christopher Bell won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, his 11th victory in 183 Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and second top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five races at Circuit of The Americas.
William Byron (second) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Circuit of The Americas. It is his second top-10 finish in 2025.
Tyler Reddick (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in five races at Circuit of The Americas.
Shane Van Gisbergen (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 2 points over Ryan Blaney.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after COTA:
Race 3 of 26 in the regular
After Cindric penalty
1) #20-Christopher Bell, 2 wins, 95 points [10 playoff points]
2) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 116 points [regular season points leader], [5 playoff points]
3) #12-Ryan Blaney, 114, [1 playoff point] +51 ahead of 17th
4) #45-Tyle Reddick, 111, +48 ahead of 17th
5) #9-Chase Elliott, 95, +32 ahead of 17th
6) #23-Bubba Wallace, 94 [1 playoff point], +31 ahead of 17th
7) #48-Alex Bowman, 87, +24 ahead of 17th
8) #71-Michael McDowell, 85, +22 ahead of 17th
9) #8-Kyle Busch, 81, +18 ahead of 17th
10) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 80, +17 ahead of 17th
11) #17-Chris Buescher, 77, +14 ahead of 17th
12) #22-Joey Logano, 77 [1 playoff point], +14 ahead of 17th
13) #42-John Hunter Nemechek, 76, +13 ahead of 17th
14) #77-Carson Hocevar, 72, +9 ahead of 17th
15) #5-Kyle Larson, 71, +8 ahead of 17th
16) #11-Denny Hamlin, 67, +4 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 63, -4 behind 16th
18) #34-Todd Gilliland, 63, -4 behind 16th
19) #1-Ross Chastain, 62, -5 behind 16th
20) #35-Riley Herbst, 60, -7 behind 16th
35) #2-Austin Cindric, 30 points after penalty.
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Christopher Bell, his second consecutive win. Byron finishes second then Reddick, Elliott and Busch.
White flag for Bell. Byron is .38 second back.
Lap 94 – Two to go. No change up front. Bell holding off Byron and Reddick.
Lap 93 – Bell leads Byron by .6 second with 3 to go. Reddick still 1 second back. Busch now nearly 3 seconds back.
Lap 92 – With 4 laps to go it’s Bell, Byron, and Reddick separated by 1 second. Busch falls back to 4th.
Lap 91 – Five to go. Bell led Busch by .03 second at the line. Byron .3 second back. Reddick now only 1 second back. Busch then loses second to Byron.
Lap 90 – Six laps to go. Busch holding off a charging Bell. Byron still third, .7 second back. Fourth place Reddick is 2.4 seconds off the lead.
Lap 88 – Bell was able to get back around Byron but is .7 second behind Busch for the lead. Reddick and Allmendinger the rest of the top 10. Van Gisbergen stuck in 9th.
Lap 87 – Bell made a move on Busch for the lead in turn 1, but shot wide and lost second place to Byron.
Lap 86 – Ten laps remaining. Busch leads Bell by .4 second. Then Byron, Allmendinger and Reddick. Austin Dillon is out of the race from his accident.
Lap 84 – Busch holds the lead on the restart. Bell is now second. Van Gisbergen has fallen to 10th.
Lap 83 – Green flag with 13 laps remaining. Busch leads Byron, Bell, Reddick, Allmendinger, Van Gisbergen, Chastain, Haley, Blaney, and Gragson.
Lap 79 – Caution is out for an accident by Hamlin and Austin Dillon. Dillon is stuck in the gravel in turn 6A.
Lap 76 – With 20 laps remaining and all green flag pit stops complete. Busch leads Byron by 2.3 seconds. Bell is 5.3 seconds back, then Allmendinger, Reddick, Briscoe and Van Gisbergen.
Lap 75 – Van Gisbergen pits from the front. Busch retakes the lead. Byron follows him with Bell third, then Allmendinger and Reddick.
Lap 73 – Blaney pits but Van Gisbergen stays out again. Busch is now second, Bell is 5th.
Lap 72 – Bell comes to pit road finally. Van Gisbergen and Blaney stay out. Busch is back up to third.
Lap 71 – Bell stays out again, Allmendinger pits from second.
Lap 70 – Busch is on pit road from the lead. Bell stays out. Several other drivers come in as well.
Lap 69 – Some pit stops now getting underway. Byron, Briscoe, Chastain, Reddick and others come down.
Lap 66 – Thirty laps remaining: Busch, Bell, Byron, Allmendinger, Van Gisbergen, Reddick, Briscoe, Chastain, Haley, Blaney the top 10. Course limited violation for Gilliland.
Lap 63 – Busch leads Bell by .87 second. Third place Byron is 3.5 seconds back. Then Briscoe, Allmendinger, and Van Gisbergen.
Lap 59 – McDowell makes his pit stop. Everyone else should come in for the final time in the next 8-12 laps.
Lap 56 – Zilisch and Suarez officially out of the race. Busch continues to lead. Bell up to second over Briscoe, Byron, Allmendinger, and Van Gisbergen.
Lap 55 – Green flag back out. Busch, Allmendinger, Van Gisbergen, McDowell, Bell, Byron, Briscoe, Chastain, Reddick, and Hocevar.
Lap 52 – Pit road is open but there are few takers.
Lap 51 – Caution comes out for a wreck by Zilisch and Suarez. Suarez spun out in turn 19 and Zilisch was unable to avoid him. Suarez gets back to pit road. Zilisch is stuck next to the tire barrier.
Lap 50 – Green flag for the start of the final stage 46 laps remaining. McDowell leads Busch, Van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Byron, Bell, Suarez, Briscoe, Reddick, Buescher. McDowell has not pitted since lap 23. He will only need to pit once more. Busch and Van Gisbergen get around McDowell on the first lap back under green.
Lap 48 – Drivers that had not pitted come in for service.
Lap 46 – Caution out for the end of stage 2. Preece wins it over Blaney, McDowell, Busch, Van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Byron, Wallace, Bell and Suarez.
Lap 45 – Final lap of stage 2. Preece is the leader over Blaney and McDowell.
Lap 44 – Leaders are in for their stops before the pit road is closed. Van Gisbergen, Busch, and Allmendinger get service. Larson lost a right front tire while on track. He’s now 35th and will have a two lap penalty.
Lap 43 – More takers for pit stops on this lap.
Lap 42 – A number of pit stops underway from drivers in the middle of the pack.
Lap 41 – Hamlin with a track limits violation in turn 5.
Lap 39 – Seven laps left in stage 2. Van Gisbergen leads Busch, Allmendinger, Byron, Suarez, Briscoe, Bell, Reddick, Bowman, and Buescher. Expect another round of pit stops before the end of the stage.
Lap 35 – Busch leads Van Gisbergen by .27 second at the start finish line. Allmendinger has moved to third, 2.8 seconds back. Van Gisbergen takes the lead later on in the lap.
Lap 32 – Larson with a tracks limits penalty in turn 3. Stop and go penalty.
Lap 31 – Busch has pulled out to a 1.3 second lead over Van Gisbergen. Reddick, Allmendinger, and Byron follow. All 37 cars are on the lead lap after Ty Dillon got the free pass at the end of stage 1.
Lap 27 – Busch takes the lead from Van Gisbergen going into turn 1.
Lap 26 – Green flag for the start of the second stage: Van Gisbergen, Busch, Reddick, Larson, Suarez, Byron, Allmendinger, Briscoe, Bowman, and Hocevar the top 10. This stage ends after lap 45.
Lap 24 – Pit road is open. Wallace and Logano pit. They had not been in yet. Elliott came in during the last lap when pits were still closed. Van Gisbergen takes the lead back.
Lap 21 – Caution out for the end of stage 1. Wallace wins it. He is followed by Logano, Van Gisbergen, Busch, Elliott, Reddick, Larson, Suarez, Byron, Allmendinger.
Lap 20 – Final lap of stage 1: Wallace, Logano, Van Gisbergen, Busch, Elliott the top 5.
Lap 19 – Van Gisbergen, Busch, Reddick, Allmendinger come to pit road before it closes with two laps remaining in the stage. Wallace now the leader.
Lap 18 – Pit road busier this lap with drivers changing tires and getting fuel. Among those pitting: Larson, Chastain, Byron, Preece, Gibbs, Bell, Hamlin and several others.
Lap 17 – Several drivers pitting. McDowell with a crew member over the wall too soon.
Lap 15 – Six laps remaining in stage 1. Most of the leaders will likely pit before the end of the stage. It’s Van Gisbergen, Busch, Reddick, Suarez, and Larson.
Lap 10 – Busch takes second place from Reddick.
Lap 9 – Van Gisbergen takes the lead from Reddick.
Lap 8 – Reddick leads Van Gisbergen by 1 second. Then Busch, Suarez, Larson, Hocevar, Byron, Wallace, Allmendinger and Bowman.
Lap 5 – Wallace with a track limits violation in turn 5. Stop and go penalty.
Lap 4 – Ty Dillon has spun on the front straightaway from contact with Cindric. He gets the car going. No caution.
Lap 3 – After two laps it’s Reddick, Wallace, Van Gisbergen, Busch, and Suarez.
Lap 1 – Elliot spun in turn 1 after contact from Chastain. He continues on. No caution. Later on the lap, Zilisch has a tire down, Hamlin has right front damage.
3:53pm/et – Green flag for the start of the race. Reddick and Wallace on the front row. First stage is 20 laps.
3:39pm/et – Engines are fired.
3:30pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
2:41pm/et – Zane Smith will start at the rear due to unapproved adjustments.
2:33pm/et – FOX is now on the air with race coverage.
No cars reported to the back for the start as of Saturday night.
No rain in the forecast today for COTA. Sunny and a high near 80 degrees.
Race details:
Broadcast: FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; Driver In-Car Cameras on Max
Distance: 95 laps / 228 miles
Stages: 20 / 45 / 95
Average time of race: N/A
Pit road speed: 40 mph
Caution car speed: 45 mph
Fuel Window: 25 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: #38-Zane Smith (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 #45-Tyler Reddick chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #23-Bubba Wallace took the 9th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the COTA Pit Stall page.
#45-Tyler Reddick won the Busch pole for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas with a speed of 88.095mph for his 1st pole of the year, 2nd at COTA and 10th of his career.
#23-Bubba Wallace will start second followed by 9-Chase Elliott, #77-Carson Hocevar, #99-Daniel Suarez, #88-Shane Van Gisbergen, #5-Kyle Larson, #8-Kyle Busch, #1-Ross Chastain, and #34-Todd Gilliland.
Qualifying was broken into two groups with the times merged together to set the lineup.
See the complete Echopark Texas Grand Prix Starting Lineup.
COTA – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Tyler Reddick won the Pole Award for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix with a lap of 98.076seconds, 88.095 mph.
This is his 10th pole in 185 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2025.
This is his second pole in five races at Circuit of The Americas.
Bubba Wallace (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2025 and his second in five races at Circuit of The Americas.
Chase Elliott (third) posted his third top-10 start at Circuit of The Americas. It is his first in three races this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Second Practice for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas is over. The results:
#88-Shane VanGisbergen 87.409
#24-William Byron 86.892
#77-Carson Hocevar 86.853
#12-Ryan Blaney 86.801
#48-Alex Bowman 86.742
Slowest: #51-Cody Ware 84.607
Most laps run: #54-Ty Gibbs, 7 laps
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 19 drivers): #5-Kyle Larson, 86.143
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Practice speeds page.
First Practice for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas is over. The results:
#88-Shane VanGisbergen 87.401
#48-Alex Bowman 87.146
#87-Connor Zilisch 87.025
#5-Kyle Larson 86.701
#16-AJ Allmendinger 86.684
Slowest: #51-Cody Ware 84.129
Most laps run: 11, #48-Bowman, #99-Suarez, #22-Logano, #23-Wallace, #9-Elliott, #11-Hamlin, #60-Preece, #43-Nemechek.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 12 drivers):#88-VanGisbergen 85.822
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Practice speeds page.
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. No multiple failures.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas is posted, 37 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
The only open teams entered is: #87-Connor Zilisch
See the full entry list on the Echopark Texas Grand Prix Entry List page.
News & Notes – COTA –
- For the first time, the NASCAR Cup Series will run the shorter (2.40-mile) track configuration at Circuit of the Americas. The previous four Cup races (2021-2024) were competed on the longer configuration at 3.41-miles.
- Since joining the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, this is the earliest COTA will be run in a season.
- Chevrolet won the pole for four of the last five road course races, Toyota won the pole for four of the prior five.
- Chevrolet won six of the last seven road course races, Hendrick Motorsports won five of the six.
- Three drivers have won poles at COTA: William Byron won the pole for the last two races at COTA (2023, 2024), Tyler Reddick won it in 2022, and Ryan Blaney won it in 2021.
- Only one driver has won his first career pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at COTA – Tyler Reddick (May 23, 2021).
- The race winner at COTA has started on the front row in the last two COTA races, and the deepest in the field a race winner is started is 16th (Ross Chastain, 2022).
- In 15 of the 17 road course races with the Next Gen car the race winner has started in the top 8.
- Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick are the only drivers to finish inside the top-10 in all four COTA races, no one has finished top-five in all four.
- 16 of the 37 drivers entered at COTA have a Cup road course win.
Statistical Advance: A look at some of the top statistical performers at the Circuit of The Americas.
Goodyear Fast Facts: This is the first time Cup teams have run this tire code, which will be run on all four corners of the car . . . compared to what was run at COTA last season, this tire features both compound (more tire wear and lap-time fall-off) and construction (update) changes.
Race rules and information:
