Track: Circuit of The Americas
Location: Austin, Texas
Track length: 2.3 miles
When: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,055,250
Race distance: 95 laps | 228 miles
Stages: 20 | 45 | 95
Defending winner: William Byron, March 2024
Starting lineup: Tyler Reddick wins Busch Light Pole
New track layout adds a twist for drivers
With two superspeedways in the books, Circuit of The Americas presents its own wild-card nature to some of the biggest Cup Series stars aiming for a playoff bid. But different ages of asphalt throughout the track and a shortened layout that ups the lap count from 68 to 95 might be the biggest twist. The first four races at COTA were run on the full 3.4-mile circuit and specific changes come in Turns 6A-B, where drivers expect it to be a tough passing zone with possible chances for dive bombs.
The new section will affect how drivers approach their racing line on exit out of the esses (Turns 3-5) and their entry into Turn 6, making it a challenge for how they attack restarts and defend cars from charging through the field. During Saturday’s practice session, drivers were gaining aggressiveness through Turns 6A-B, gauging the best ways to find speed on corner exit, leading to a few locking up their tires. That could ultimately result in less grip during the race.
Last week’s Atlanta winner, Christopher Bell, finished runner-up in this race last year and saw some familiarity in that new section during his Saturday morning track walk.
“We don’t know how 6B and 6A are going to race yet,” Bell said. “It kind of reminds me of that section of Chicago like, maybe [Turn] 5, where it’s really tight there, and we saw a bunch of pile-ups and the track get blocked. So maybe that could happen.
“I went around there the pace car yesterday, like you’re coming off of Turn 6, and whenever you leave Turn 6, like you’re basically center punching this tire barrier. So you have to, like, awkwardly, make the car want to get back right to get your angle right for 6A to get around the tire barrier.”
MORE: Cup standings | Full 2025 schedule
That tire barrier was added to Turn 6A to essentially serve as a reference point for Cup drivers in the apex of the corner, but an addition came after Friday’s Xfinity Series practice and qualifying sessions when several drivers took notice that it would be possible to roll through the gravel and off the race track.
“I mean, it’s just really a super narrow corner,” Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman added. “So when there was nothing there, it’s just gravel on the inside, and we all would have jumped through the gravel, and there’d be gravel all over the race track on exit there. So certainly something needed to be there.”
Along with the new section, there have been several repaved sections on the circuit, especially through Turns 2-8, which adds another element in finding grip.
“They’ve repaved some sections of this track, but it’s not like repaves that we face on ovals or other tracks that we race at,” 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick said. “A lot of racing takes place on this track throughout the year, even though the surface is new for us. It’s pretty well-worn already.”
Both Bowman and Reddick sit top 10 in points and are usual suspects to watch at COTA, as both have average finishes of fifth or better in four previous events. Reddick has a win on the old layout in 2023, which stands as his most recent road-course triumph. As for Bowman, he’s still searching for a win in Austin after finishing second, third and fourth in the last three years at COTA, respectively.
From atop the pit box…
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
The new course layout won’t just affect the drivers — it also adds a wrinkle to crew chiefs’ plans for formulating a winning strategy, requiring them to rethink when to pit. More importantly, the race features a new tire compound that is similar to the Goodyear Eagles used in last year’s playoff race at Watkins Glen International. However, with variously aged asphalt across the course, tire wear could be a key element in the race.
Reddick’s crew chief, Billy Scott, expects that race strategy and decision-making will diverge slightly compared to last year’s notebook.
“I think it’s going to play out differently,” Scott told NASCAR.com on Friday. “More because of the new tire and how the fall-off is, more so than the number of laps changing. I think that part of it is fairly consistent with what it was before. We’re still having stage breaks and all that and a one-stop in Stage 3. So I think it’s just a matter of getting an idea of where the fall-off is and how tires are.
“We’ve got some repaved sections of this track, and, you know the new layout, it’s likely going to be a little bit different than it was at Watkins Glen, but hopefully more fall-off than what we had before.”
The shortened road course and tire wear might just be the recipe that stirs up chaos throughout the field, a change in pace from a race that ran caution-free a year ago — aside from scheduled stage breaks.
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, thinks most teams will play it safe with a three-stop strategy, but the gamble for a possible two-stopper is on the table. The main factor between two or three stops will be where the cautions fall, Fugle mentioned that the redesign in Turns 6A and 6B could either lead to bent fenders or showcase a driver’s brilliance behind the wheel.
“I think that it could go two ways,” Fugle told NASCAR.com. “You know, it could be a trigger spot for some accidents, or it could be a spot where it singles it out and makes for some good racing. So time will tell. I probably give a little bit of both. There’ll be some times where urgency makes some wrecks that shouldn’t be there. And there’ll be some riding time where it kind of makes it a little technical and spread out a little bit.”
RELATED: See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s race
History tells us…
Get out front quickly and stay there. According to Racing Insights, the driver who led the most laps has won all three COTA races in the Next Gen era. This emphasizes why qualifying is extremely important when it comes to road courses: the fewer cars you have to overtake, the better your chances are of winning.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
CHRIS BUESCHER. The No. 17 RFK Racing driver has finished eighth in the last two COTA races and has 13 top 10s on road courses since the start of 2022, which leads all drivers during that span. He has a road course win on the résumé (Watkins Glen, 2024) too, and after missing out on a playoff bid last year, this could be a good chance for Buescher to lock in early.
Fantasy update
Most of the elite road course drivers in the Cup Series stepped up during a pair of practice sessions at COTA. Shane van Gisbergen is an absolute must for your lineup, sweeping the practice sessions by nearly three-tenths of a second in first practice and more than a half second in final practice. The only changes in my lineup were dropping Ty Gibbs and William Byron in favor of AJ Allmendinger and Daniel Suárez. (Dustin Albino)
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
– Racing Insights: Full finishing order projections for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix | Read more
– The greatest thing since ‘Sliced Bread?’: What to expect from Connor Zilisch’s Cup Series debut | Read more
– Dialing up road-course ringers: Drivers share mixed feelings on Allmendinger, SVG | Read more
– Feeling hot, hot, hot: Fatherhood brings new mentality for Bubba Wallace’s strong start | Read more
– NASCAR Classics: Rewind the tape on every Cup race at COTA | Watch races
– Paint Scheme Preview: These hot-rods are bigger and bolder, deep in the heart of Texas | View gallery