Kyle Larson sneaks by for the lead on the final lap to win Xfinity race at COTA: Kyle Larson was ultimately both patient and smart taking the lead on the final overtime lap to win an aggressive Featured Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the first road course test for the series this year that earned an “A” for high-drama and close competition.(Read more)(3-23-2024)

#17-Kyle Larson made a last-lap pass to win the Focused Health 250 Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas. Larson was patient and scooted by for the lead in Turn 15 when #97-Shane van Gisbergen bumped #21-Austin Hill out of the way. This is Larson’s first win at COTA — and it’s his 15th career win in the series.
#21-Hill was credited with a runner-up finish and has top five finishes in all five races to start the 2024 season. #20-John Hunter Nemechek rebounded to finish third after having an oil leak in the middle of the race. #00-Cole Custer and #48-Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five.
#2-Jesse Love finished sixth, with #32-Austin Green finishing seventh in his series debut. #81-Chandler Smith, #1-Sam Mayer and #16-AJ Allmendinger round out the top 10. Van Gisbergen was assessed a 30-second penalty following the race for cutting the course and dropped to 27th in the finishing order.
#48-Kligerman won the opening stage, with #98-Herbst taking the second stage.
There were 13 lead changes among eight drivers and four cautions for nine yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 72.374 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

COTA Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – COTA:
Kyle Larson(i) won the Focused Health 250, his 15th victory in 115 Xfinity Series races.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Circuit of The Americas.
Austin Hill (second) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Circuit of The Americas. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2024.
John Hunter Nemechek(i) (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Circuit of The Americas.
Jesse Love (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Austin Hill leads the point standings by 9 points over Chandler Smith.

Xfinity Series Standings after COTA (Race 5 of 33):
1)#21-Austin Hill 222 points (2 wins)
2)#81-Chandler Smith 213, -9 (1 win)
3)#00-Cole Custer 192, -30
4)#2-Jesse Love 166, -56
5)#98-Riley Herbst 165, -57
6)#16-AJ Allmendinger 162, -60
7)#48-Parker Kligerman 147, -75
8)#7-Justin Allgaier 143, -79
9)#9-Brandon Jones 139, -83
10)#18-Sheldon Creed 135, -87
11)#8-Sammy Smith 124, -98
12)#5-Anthony Alfredo 123, -99
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 49: #97-van Gisbergen gets into #21-Hill in Turn 15, allowing #17-Larson to get for the lead and score the victory. #97-van Gisbergen was assessed a 30-second penalty, dropping him to 27th in the rundown.
Lap 48: #21-Hill bumps #97-van Gisbergen out of the way on the restart to take the lead. #26-Karam gets by for second.
Lap 45: #98-Riley Herbst, #43-Ellis, #42-Honeyman were piled into each other on the backstretch, bringing out the caution.
Lap 42: #24-Jones spins and has fluid leaking from his car to bring out the caution.
Lap 39: #5-Alfredo spins while battling #32-Green for 15th position.
Lap 37: #97-van Gisbergen passes #16-Allmendinger for the lead with nine laps remaining.
Lap 35: #81-Smith gets into #8-Smith. #8-Smith broke an axle.
Lap 34: #16-Allmendinger scoots ahead of #97-van Gisbergen for the lead with 12 laps remaining.
Lap 30: #9-Jones wins the second stage, his first stage victory of the season. #98-Herbst finishes second, with #00-Custer, #16-Allmendinger and #17-Larson rounding out the top five. #97-van Gisbergen, #35-Labbe, #39-Sieg, #92-Bilicki and #19-Gibbs all earned stage points. #9-Jones cut the course in the esses on the final lap of the stage and will restart the final stage at tail-end of the field.
Lap 27: The top five drivers pit: #16-Allmendinger, #97-van Gisbergen, #17-Larson, #19-Gibbs and #81-Smith. #9-Jones takes the lead with two laps remaining in the stage.
Lap 26: #21-Hill, #8-Smith, #48-Kligerman, #2-Love, #26-Karam, #7-Allgaier, #31-Retzlaff, #27-Burton, #20-Nnemechek, #5-Alfredo, #1-Mayer and a few others pit to flip the stage.
Lap 25: #17-Larson and #97-van Gisbergen closed in on race leader #16-Allmendinger, but lost ground in a thrilling battle for second.
Lap 22: #11-Williams has a pass through penalty for cutting the course.
Lap 19: #8-Smith turned #00-Custer on the exit of Turn 1.
Lap 17: #97-van Gisbergen lost three spots on the restart to fifth. #17-Larson, #2-Love and #19-Gibbs all got by. #1-Mayer will serve a pass through penalty for cutting the course in the esses.
Lap 15: All the drivers that hadn’t yet pitted are on pit road, including #7-Allgaier who needed to serve his penalty at the start of the stage. #8-Smith wins the race off pit road.
Lap 14: #48-Kligerman wins the opening stage, his second career stage victory. #8-Smith finished second, with #26-Karam, #31-Retzlaff and #98-Herbst rounding out the top five. #21-Hill, #35-Labbe, #16-Allmendinger, #92-Bilicki and #97-van Gisbergen all score stage points.
Lap 13: #7-Allgaier cut the course in the esses and will need to restart the second stage at the tail of the field.
Lap 12: Race leaders #16-Allmendinger and #97-van Gisbergen pit, foregoing stage points.
Lap 11: #1-Mayer, #7-Allgaier, #00-Custer, #17-Larson, #2-Love, #81-Smith, #27-Burton, #39-Sieg, #9-Jones all short pit. #21-Hill cut the course in Turn 3 and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Lap 8: #19-Gibbs cut the course in Turn 6 and has to serve a pass through penalty.
Lap 6: #19-Gibbs is the first of the drivers that had to start the race at the rear to crack the top 10.
Lap 5: #18-Creed is being pushed to the garage with a battery issue.
Lap 2: #20-Nemechek cuts the course. #07-Kvyat spins towards the rear of the field.
Lap 1: #97-van Gisbergen clears #16-Allmendinger for the lead. #26-Karam runs a distant third.

Cars to the rear: #5-Anthony Alfredo, #07-Daniil Kvyat, #15-Hailie Deegan, #17-Kyle Larson, #18-Sheldon Creed, #19-Ty Gibbs, #20-John Hunter Nemechek (all for unapproved adjustments); #11-Josh Williams (driver change) and #42-Leland Honeyman (inspection failure).

Pit Stall Selections

By nearly half a second, #17-Kyle Larson won the pole for Saturday’s Focused Health 250 Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (92.946 mph). This is Larson’s seventh career pole, with the last three all coming on road courses.
#97-Shane van Gisbergen will start from the front row (92.650 mph) in the best qualifying effort of his young NASCAR career. #19-Ty Gibbs will take the green flag from third (92.537 mph), as #81-Chandler Smith (92.211 mph) and #16-AJ Allmendinger (92.188 mph) round out the top five.
#26-Kaz Grala ranked sixth, with #18-Sheldon Creed, #00-Cole Custer, #11-Daniel Hemric and #1-Sam Mayer completing the top 10.
Did Not Qualify: #28-Kaz Grala, #50-Preston Pardus
See the complete COTA Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Circuit of The Americas
Kyle Larson(i) won the Pole Award for the Focused Health 250 with a lap of 132.076 seconds, 92.946 mph.
This is his seventh pole in 115 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2024.
This is his first pole in one races at Circuit of The Americas.
Shane Van Gisbergen # (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2024 and his first in one race at Circuit of The Americas.
Ty Gibbs(i) (third) posted his third top-10 start at Circuit of The Americas. It is his first in one race this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the Focused Health 250 Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas is complete. After 50 minutes, the top five, slowest, news and notes:
#97-Shane van Gisbergen 90.909 mph
#16-AJ Allmendinger 90.875 mph
#17-Kyle Larson 90.669 mph
#19-Ty Gibbs 90.618 mph
#2-Jesse Love 90.604 mph
Slowest: #5-Anthony Alfredo 54.488 mph.
Most laps run: #19-Gibbs, #2-Love, 8
Notes: In the opening minutes of practice, #5-Anthony Alfredo had a left-front tire go flag. #91-Kyle Weatherman also went for a spin. Halfway through the session, #81-Chandler Smith looped around in the grass.#20-John Hunter Nemechek had a piece of debris fly out from underneath his car with a handful of minutes remaining in practice.
See full COTA Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 40 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Focused Health 250 Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas. Two cars will miss the race.
Notables: #4-TBA, #6-Ty Dillon, #07-Daniil Kvyat, #14-TBA, #17-Kyle Larson, #19-Ty Gibbs, #20-John Hunter Nemechek, #24-Ed Jones, #26-Sage Karam, #28-Kaz Grala, #32-Austin Green, #35-Alex Labbe, #45-Brad Perez, #50-Preston Pardus, #92-Josh Bilicki.
See the full COTA entry list.

COTA At-Track Schedule