The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 2nd, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90). On Saturday, March 1st, the NCS practice and Busch Light Pole qualifying can be seen on Amazon Prime at 11 a.m. ET.
This will be the first time the NCS will run the shorter (2.40-mile) track configuration, an equally challenging 2.3-mile, 20-turn National Course. Previously, it was a longer configuration at 3.41 miles, a 20-turn full course layout.
The new reconfiguration will eliminate approximately a mile of the backside of the permanent road course’s traditional layout and is expected to shave roughly a minute off lap times.
The world’s top-ranked decathlete and Olympic medalist Leo Neugebauer will serve as Honorary Starter for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Neugebauer won a silver medal in his 2024 Olympics debut in Paris. Riley Gaines will provide the pre-race invocation. Gaines was a 12-time NCAA All-American at the University of Kentucky and named the Southeastern Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year in her final season.
Track Information
Season Race Number: 3 of 36
Next Race: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix
The Place: Circuit of The Americas
Track Length: 2.40 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,055,250
TV: FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 228.0 miles (95 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 45), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 95)
Read the Circuit of the Americas–NASCAR Schedule & Highlights for more information on the race weekend at the COTA.
Updated Cup Series Practice and Qualifying Procedure This Weekend
Practice
- Two practice sessions run with two groups.
- Each group gets 20 minutes per session.
Qualifying
- Run with two groups.
- Each group gets 20 minutes.
- Times are blended back together after both groups are completed; the field is set fastest to slowest.
Who and what should you look out for at the COTA?
- Bet on Byron: William Byron held off Christopher Bell by less than a second to win in 2024.
- Likely pole winners: William Byron captured the NCS pole for the last two races at COTA in 2023 and 2024, Tyler Reddick in 2022, and Ryan Blaney in 2021.
- Front Row Start Means Something: The race winner at COTA has started on the front row in the last two COTA races.
- Elliott a Top Pick: With seven road course wins (third all-time), Chase Elliott has won at five different NASCAR Cup Series road course tracks (Charlotte ROVAL, COTA, Daytona Road Course, Road America and Watkins Glen), the most all-time.
- Larson Has Good Odds of Winning: In 2021, Kyle Larson became the first driver in NCS history to win at three road course tracks in a single season (Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte ROVAL) and has six total road course wins.
- Most Consistent So Far in 2025: John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Blaney are the only two drivers who finished in the top 10 in both races this season.
- Top-10 Finishes: Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick are the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all four COTA races.
