RACE AT-A-GLANCE
WHAT: NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne

WHERE: Circuit of The Americas permanent road course outside of Austin, Texas

WHEN: Saturday (Feb. 28) – Sunday (March 1)

LAYOUT: 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course

RACE DISTANCE: 95 laps | 228 miles | Stage Lengths: 20, 45 and 95 laps

DEFENDING RACE WINNER: Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

DEFENDING POLE WINNER: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing

COMPANION EVENTS: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 and two IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races | Saturday (Feb. 28)

BROADCAST INFORMATION (All Times Central)

SATURDAY

• NASCAR Cup Series Practice | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | TV – Amazon Prime | Radio: PRN, SiriusXM

• NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying | 10:10 – 11:00 a.m. | TV – Amazon Prime | Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Radio

SUNDAY

• NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne | 2:30 p.m. | TV – FOX, HBO Max | Radio – PRN, SiriusXM

ENTRY LIST

• Click HERE for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne preliminary entry list.

2025 RACE RECAP
AUSTIN, Texas (March 2, 2025) – Christopher Bell spurred the competition to corral his second win in as many weeks after overtaking Kyle Busch and staving off hard-charging Daytona 500 winner William Byron in Sunday’s NASCAR EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas.

Bell, whose No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led twice for a total of eight laps, drove to the front with fresher tires late to earn his third career road course victory and first since the 2022 Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chasing down Busch late on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course, Bell said was reminiscent to last season when the two tangled and an upset Busch spun.

“These road course races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “When Kyle was leading, I was trying to be cautious. We know what happened last year and I didn’t want to do that again. I wanted to race him clean… Whenever I got out front, I just didn’t want to beat myself. Those were some of the sloppiest laps I’ve run.”

With Busch closing in on ending a 59-race winless streak, Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing made contact with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon on lap 79 in the new Turn 6A section to bring out the day’s second race-related caution and bunch up the field. With fresher tires, Bell was stalking Busch at every turn and was able to overtake the RCR driver on lap 90.

In the closing six laps, Byron of Hendrick Motorsports and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick made a push for the front but were unable to pass Bell. Byron finished second to post his third consecutive top-five finish at COTA while Reddick finished third. It marked his fourth consecutive top-five finish at the Austin circuit.

Earlier in the race, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace used pit strategy to earn his first-ever stage win on a road course in the opening stage. In Stage Two, Ryan Preece of RFK Racing scored the second stage win of his career – and his first since Martinsville in 2023.

Click HERE for full race results.

CUP SERIES RACE & POLE WINNERS

NOTEWORTHY
RACE NOTES: This will be the sixth running of the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne and second on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course. The event was previously run on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile Full Course. … Fans from 47 states and 10 foreign countries as far away as Australia will visit NASCAR at COTA this weekend (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, England, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Australia, Netherlands). … The DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne has produced five winners in the five races. … Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott leads all active drivers with seven road-course wins, including one at COTA in the inaugural 2021 event. Teammate Kyle Larson and Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen are tied for second at six. The all-time leader is Jeff Gordon with nine and Tony Stewart is second at eight. … Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing are the only drivers to record top-10 finishes in all five NASCAR at COTA starts. Reddick extended the streak by finishing third last season while Bowman did so by taking ninth. Reddick also leads all drivers in top-five finishes with four, including a win in 2023. … Reddick and William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports are tied for the NASCAR at COTA lead for pole positions with two. … Byron is the event leader in laps led with 71. Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing is second with 54 and Reddick third with 53. … Reddick leads all drivers in average starting position at 2.2. Elliott is second (8.0) while Daniel Suarez of Spire Motorsports and Byron are tied for third (9.2). … Reddick also leads all drivers in average finishing position at 4.6. Bowman is second at 5.2 and Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing third at 5.6.

SERIES NOTES: 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick has swept the first two races of the Cup Series season, winning the season-opening Daytona 500 and following with another victory in this past Sunday’s event at EchoPark Speedway outside of Atlanta, Ga. Reddick became just the sixth driver in NASCAR history to win the first two races of a season and first since Matt Kenseth in 2009. … Reddick leads the series points standings over 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, who trails by 40 points. Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports is third (-44), Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports fourth (-51) and Zane Smith of Front Row Motorsports fifth (-54). … Reddick, Wallace and Smith are the only drivers to record top-10 finishes in the first two races. … Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, eighth in points, leads the series in stage points with 30. Wallace is second with 29 and Elliott third with 22. … Wallace leads the series in laps led with 86 and is followed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson (55) and Reddick (54), respectively. … Joe Gibbs Racing is hopeful that Chase Briscoe’s runner-up finish at EchoPark Speedway will give the organization some momentum heading into NASCAR at COTA. Briscoe’s performance moved him up 22 positions to 15^th in the series standings, the only JGR driver among the top 25.  Denny Hamlin is 27^th, Christopher Bell 31^st and Ty Gibbs 33^rd, with all three arriving at NASCAR at COTA looking for their first top-10 finish of the season.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE (All Times Central)

 FRIDAY

IMSA practice #1 | 12:00-12:40 p.m.
IMSA practice #2 | 2:00-2:40 p.m.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice | 4:00-4:50 p.m.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series qualifying | 5:05-6:00 p.m.
IMSA Qualifying | 6:30-7:05 p.m.

SATURDAY

NASCAR Cup Series practice | 9:00-10:00 a.m.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying | 10:10-11:00 a.m.
IMSA Race #1 | 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 | 2 p.m.
IMSA Race #2 | 5:30-6:15 p.m.

SUNDAY

DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne | 2:30 p.m.

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