Written by Gabriel Tsui & Ashleigh McGregor
Now two races into the 2025 season, the Cup Series field travels to Austin, Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. This race will be the first road course of the year.
From the track’s first race in 2021 until 2024, all three series have used the longer Formula 1 layout. However, starting this year, the Truck Series has been removed from the weekend’s activities. Furthermore, after the esses section, the track makes a sharp right turn through the infield and feeds back onto the back-straight. Not only does this reduce the lap length from 3.4 miles to 2.3 miles (5.5km to 3.7km), but it also provides a brand new hard-braking zone.
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Xfinity: Saturday, 1 March, 13:30 local (19:30 UK) – 125 laps
Cup: Sunday, 2 March, 14:30 local (20:30 UK) – 160 laps
Below are the defending winners for each race:
Xfinity: No. 17 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
Cup: No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
As we kick off the month of march we head west to the Lone Star State for the third race of the season. Just two races into the season, we already have big crashes, driver feuds, and controversies. Will COTA be able to bring the same energy we saw in Daytona and Atlanta?
This year, the Cup Series will move away from the grand prix layout, switching into the shorter NASCAR layout, omitting the second part of the esses and most of the back straightaway. The new NASCAR layout will be 2.356 miles (3.792 kilometres) long, with up to 18 turns.
The drivers will be running 95 laps around the track, with 20 laps in the first stage, 45 laps in the second stage, and 30 laps in the final stage, totalling a distance of 228 miles (366.93 kilometres) run around the track.
The weather report indicates there will be clear skies throughout the weekend, with temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), a stark contrast to the cool weather down in Atlanta. The race will commence on Sunday, 2nd of March, at 15:30 ET (12:30 PT, 21:30 CET).
Race Predictions
With a brand new layout, it is harder to predict who will be able to take this one all the way to the house. However, past trends tell us the Chevys are pretty good at road courses, while Toyota is a close second behind them. However, for now, we will be sticking with the numbers and picking the Chevys.
They were incredibly close to winning another race in Atlanta, with Kyle Larson and Carson Hocevar breathing down the neck of Christopher Bell in the final stages of the race, but Bell held on to take his first of the season.
Heading into COTA, I’m backing Larson to do the same. The star driver is a proven road course racer, with his latest win coming from the Roval in Charlotte. He has what it takes to rise to the occasion when needs be, and this weekend might kickstart another title charge for the former champion.
Three things to look out for
New Layout, New Experiences
As drivers find themselves driving in a brand new layout, they may take new approaches to the race, in terms of tyre and fuel strategies, and also how aggressively they start the race and approach overtakes. This will all differ from what we have seen in past seasons, which may create more exciting racing.
Cindric and Larson make amends
Following the Atlanta 400, there were quite a bit of chirps and yelling over the radio, with the first being Austin Cindric getting spun out late in the race by Larson, but in a virtual presser Cindric revealed that the pair has talked things through, as the pair are on the same page on the expectations for each other moving forward.
Hocevar not here for the playground
On the other hand, Carson Hocevar lost quite a bit of favour on track during Atlanta, with multiple controversial moves throughout the race, including a move that sent Ryan Blaney spinning and out of the race. In post-race, he expressed that the drivers were not here to be “boy band and love each other and play on the playground together”.
We will see if he can keep this going, because Hocevar definitely isn’t making any friends with all the wrecks he’s causing, but the reigning rookie of the year certainly doesn’t seem to care.
Xfinity Series: Focused Health 250 Preview
Written by Ashleigh McGregor
With only a few years of racing on this notorious track at the Circuit of the Americas, the Xfinity series returns to thrill both drivers and fans. This year commemorates five years of racing on a track that is well loved by drivers.
Last year the vibrant circuit saw thousands of fans attend the race weekend and there is no doubt that the series is hopeful for an even bigger turn out this March.
Race Weekend Guide
Friday February 28th will host one practice session at 5:00pm track time (23:00 UK) followed by qualifying at 6:00pm track time (00:00 UK).
Race day comes quick the next day Saturday March 1st at 2:30pm track time(20:30 UK).
Drivers will be covering 65 laps broken down into 20 laps for the first and second stage. The final stage will have the remaining 25 laps.
COTA Contenders
Marking the third race of the season, the Circuit of the Americas nicknamed ‘ COTA’ by fans promises a thrilling race.
Teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill have climbed that top step for the first two races, putting their team in an excellent place for the playoffs. After Hill's total domination last week at the Atlanta Motor Speedway combined with a near comparable performance in Daytona he is one to watch. Having never yet won a road course he will be hungry to make COTA his first.
Superstar rookie; Connor Zilisch is another driver to keep an eye on. Winning his debut race last year at Watkins Glen - another road course, proves he has the talent to win at tracks like this. Zilisch’s experience growing up racing on go karts gives him that edge on these courses.
Similarly Sam Mayer has the same edge and success on road courses. He will be bringing everything to secure that win.
Who do you think will walk away as the champion of the Americas?
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