The NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Part Series Series head to Circuit of the Americas in Austin for the first weekend of road course racing in 2026.
Photo by Brett Alper/TRE
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will tackle the St. Petersburg Street Course in Florida.
NASCAR Cup Series’ DuraMAX Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
Photo by Brett Alper/TRE
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (All times Eastern)
95 laps
Stages end on laps 20, 45, 95
Last year’s winner: Christopher Bell
With 37 entries for the race, all drivers will make the field. Jesse Love is the lone open entry in the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet.
NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
Saturday at 3 p.m.
65 laps
Stages end on laps 20, 40, 65
Last year’s winner: Connor Zilisch
Photo by Brett Alper/TRE
With 40 drivers entered for Saturday, two will miss the field.
Highlighted on the entry list includes Alex Labbe (No. 0), Connor Zilisch (No. 1), Tyler Gonzalez (No. 5), Shane Van Gisbergen (No. 9), Brent Crews (No. 19), Batazar Leguizamon (No. 30), Ross Chastain (No. 32), Austin J. Hill (No. 35), J.J. Yeley (No. 42), Preston Pardys (No. 50), Sage Karam (No. 55), and Carson Kvapil (No. 91).
Odds for NASCAR Cup Series at Circuit of the Americas
Photo by Dominic Aragon/TRE
Shane van Gisbergen, who won five of six road course races last year in Cup, is the odds-on favorite to win the race, according to the Caesar’s Sportsbook as of Monday, Feb. 23.
COTA was the only road course event he did not win in 2025.
Shane van Gisbergen +100
Connor Zilisch +400
Christopher Bell +1000
Tyler Reddick +1400
Chase Elliott +1800
Kyle Larson +2000
Chase Briscoe +2200
A.J. Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell +2500
Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs +2800
Alex Bowman +3000
Kyle Busch +3500
Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe +4500
Austin Cindric, Ryan Precce +5000
Bubba Wallace +6000
Denny Hamlin, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano +8000
Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Todd Gilliland +35000
Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Erik Jokes, Jesse Love, John Hunter Nemechek +50000
Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +100000
Ty Dillon, Riley Herbst +150000
Cody Ware +250000
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.