- 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick aims to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win the opening three Cup Series races of a season.
- Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen arrives on a five-race winning streak in Cup Series road and street course races.
AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 24, 2026) – A fresh NASCAR Cup Series season always brings renewed promise and hope for the field, but the visit to Circuit of The Americas for Sunday’s DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne also brings a few familiar road-racing favorites into focus.
The sixth running of the NASCAR at COTA event – and second on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course layout – will be just the third race of the young season and first road/street course event of 2026. Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen will lead a contingent of road-course talents eager to capitalize early, with the next race of this discipline not arriving until early May.
The Cup Series drivers open their weekend Saturday with practice from 9-10 a.m. CT, immediately followed by qualifying beginning at 10:10 a.m. The weekend culminates with the 95-lap, 228-mile DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne beginning at 2:30 p.m. (TV: FOX, HBO Max; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM).
Here’s the “Fast Five” storylines leading into the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne weekend:
1) Tyler Reddick will be chasing NASCAR history in Sunday’s DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne and the 23XI Racing driver could not of handpicked a much more ideal venue than Circuit of The Americas.
Reddick followed up a season-opening Daytona 500 victory with a win in Sunday’s Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway to become the sixth driver in NASCAR history – and first since Matt Kenseth in 2009 – to capture the first two races of the season.
Now Reddick is looking to become the only driver to ever win the first three and those pre-race odds may have increased significantly given his success at COTA. He has finished among the top five in his last four visits, including a 2023 win, and has not finished outside the top 10 in five career starts. His average finish of 4.6 ranks first among all drivers.
Reddick also has been an exceptional qualifier, placing among the top four in all five starts. His first career Cup Series pole came at COTA in 2021 with Richard Childress Racing and added another last year. Reddick’s average starting position of 2.2 also ranks first among drivers. Last season after winning the pole, Reddick led nine laps en route to a third-place finish.
Reddick, the series points leader, would like to etch his name in the NASCAR history books, but not at the expense of a strong points day.
“I mean, am I going to throw away a second place to do that? Probably not,” Reddick said. “But certainly if at any point during this week I’m running out of reasons to be motivated to go win, I’ll keep that in my back pocket, for sure. You know, it’s cool to be able – or have the opportunity to potentially do things like that, but for me, with where this season started and what I need to do as a driver, it’s all about just doing everything I can and showing up every week being as prepared as I can. So, yeah, I’ll try and make that a reality.”
2) NASCAR at COTA was the lone blemish among the six Cup Series road/street races last season where Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing did not find himself in Victory Lane. In his second start at COTA and first with Trackhouse, van Gisbergen put in a solid effort, qualifying sixth, leading 23 laps and finishing sixth.
SVG then reeled off five consecutive road/street course victories. He won from the pole at Mexico City, the Chicago Street Race and Sonoma Raceway and followed with victories at Watkins Glen and the Charlotte ROVAL after starting second.
Van Gisbergen has enjoyed incredible success on this track discipline ever since he won at Chicago in 2023 in his first career Cup Series start. In 12 road/street race starts, he owns six wins, seven top-five finishes, 10 top-10 efforts and 342 laps led. His first NASCAR at COTA start came in 2024, when he started 12th and finished 20th driving for Kaulig Racing.
3) Trackhouse Racing strengthened its stout road-course driver lineup with the elevation of 2025 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship runner-up Connor Zilisch to the Cup Series.
The 19-year-old North Carolinian recorded 10 wins last season with half of those coming on permanent road courses. His first 2025 win came from the pole at COTA in the Focused Health 250. He followed with road-course wins at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Portland and the Charlotte ROVAL.
His career winning percentage on permanent road courses in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is a staggering .857 (six wins in seven starts), dating to 2024 when he won at Watkins Glen. His only miss last season was at Mexico City, where he won the pole, led 17 laps and finished fifth. He also has six poles in those seven starts.
COTA also served as the site of his Cup Series debut last season, where he qualified 14th and finishing 37th after a mid-race accident.
4) The three leading active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in road-course wins – Chase Elliott (7) and Kyle Larson (6) of Hendrick Motorsports, along with van Gisbergen (6) – have combined for just one victory at COTA.
That victory came courtesy of Elliott in the inaugural 2021 race, and he has enjoyed the most success among the trio. He also has a pair of fourth-place finishes (2022, ’25) in his four starts, having missed the 2023 race due to his snowboarding injury. Elliott needs one more road/street course win to tie Tony Stewart for second all-time at eight while Jeff Gordon remains the career leader at nine.
Larson had immediate success at NASCAR at COTA with a runner-up finish in 2021, but has not finished better than 14th in his last four visits. Van Gisbergen’s NASCAR at COTA debut in 2024 resulted in a 20th-place finish, but he rebounded last season as he led 23 laps en route to a sixth-place finish.
5) RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, who has not missed a race dating to his first fulltime Cup Series season in 2010, has some uncertainty surrounding his status for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne.
Coming off a broken right femur suffered during a fall on ice during a family vacation in December, Keselowski has competed in the first two races of the season, but the physicality of road-course racing may be a bit too rigorous at this stage of his recovery.
If Keselowski is unable to compete, road-racing specialist Joey Hand is expected to take over the No. 6 Ford. Hand, a two-time winner at both the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, has made eight career Cup Series starts. His best performance came last season driving the No. 60 part-time entry for RFK Racing at the Chicago Street Race, where he finished fourth after starting 38th.
Another potential scenario could have Keselowski starting the race and relinquishing the car to Hand. That would allow Keselowski to be credited with all race points earned by the reserve driver’s finish.
Follow Us:
Keep track of all things NASCAR at COTA by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@NASCARatCOTA). Keep up with all the latest information on the NASCAR at COTA website and mobile app.
