Facts and Stats Friday for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin

By Bob Francis Motorsports Reporter, Managing Editor Go Full Throttle Racing News February 27, 2026

AUSTIN, TX — After two drafting tracks and back-to-back wins by Tyler Reddick, the NASCAR Cup Series moves to the exciting road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix. COTA is the first of four road courses on the Cup schedule this year, the fewest since 2020.

NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne Circuit of The Americas, 2.4 Mile Asphalt Road Course Sunday, March 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET The Purse: $11,233,037

TV: FOX, 3:30 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)

Road Course Facts and Stats: — Each of the last five road course winners started on the front row — Four of the last six first-time winners in the Cup series were on road courses — Five of the last 15 road course races were won by drivers getting their first road course win

Circuit of The Americas’ iconic Turn 1, also known as “Big Red,” challenges drivers to an initial 133-foot climb right out of the gate (Image Credit: NASCAR at COTA/Getty Images)

COTA Story Lines:

TYLER REDDICK’S HISTORIC THREE-PEAT ATTEMPT

— Tyler Reddick became the sixth driver to win the first two races in a Cup season last week at Atlanta — No driver has ever won the first three races — Finished top-10 in all five COTA races, including a win in 2023 — Finished top-10 in five of the last six road course races — Pole winner in 2025

Tyler Reddick Qualifying P1 at COTA 2025 (Image Credit: James Gilbert_Getty Images)

Tyler Reddick Qualifying P1 at COTA 2025 (Image Credit: James Gilbert_Getty Images)

Tyler Reddick wins at COTA in 2023 (Image Credit: Bob Francis, Go Full Throttle Racing News, GFT Digital)

Data for COTA

NASCAR Cup Series 2026 Top 16 in the Driver Standings at Circuit of The Americas

COTA Driver Rating Analysis

TOP 10 IN COTA-SPECIFIC LOOP DATA STATISTICS

(Drivers are listed in alphabetical order; Loop Data stats in the section below are from 2005-Present)

AJ Allmendinger (№16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet) · One top five, two top 10s · Average Finish of 21.600, 13th-best · Average Running Position of 9.933, fifth-best · Driver Rating of 93.1, eighth-best · 292 Laps in the Top 15 (80.9%), fifth-most

Christopher Bell (№20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) · One win, three top fives, three top 10s · Average Finish of 15.000, ninth-best · Average Running Position of 14.919, 11th-best · Driver Rating of 89.6, ninth-best · 257 Laps in the Top 15 (71.2%), eighth-most

Alex Bowman (№48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) · Three top fives, five top 10s · Average Finish of 5.200, second-best · Average Running Position of 11.108, seventh-best · Driver Rating of 99.7, fifth-best · 277 Laps in the Top 15 (76.7%), seventh-most

Chase Briscoe (№19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) · One top 10 · Average Finish of 15.600, 11th-best · Average Running Position of 14.115, 10th-best · Driver Rating of 82.0, 11th-best · 234 Laps in the Top 15 (64.8%), ninth-most

Chris Buescher (№17 RFK Racing Ford) · Three top 10s · Average Finish of 11.400, seventh-best · Average Running Position of 16.523, 12th-best · Driver Rating of 81.3, 12th-best · 177 Laps in the Top 15 (49.0%), 12th-most

Kyle Busch (№8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) · Two top fives, four top 10s · Average Finish of 10.800, sixth-best · Average Running Position of 8.316, third-best · Driver Rating of 102.7, fourth-best · 310 Laps in the Top 15 (85.9%), third-most

William Byron (№24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) · One win, three top fives, three top 10s; two poles · Average Finish of 6.200, fourth-best · Average Running Position of 8.921, fourth-best · Driver Rating of 112.3, series-best · 298 Laps in the Top 15 (82.5%), fourth-most

Ross Chastain (№1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet) · One win, three top fives, four top 10s · Average Finish of 5.600, third-best · Average Running Position of 8.172, second-best · Driver Rating of 111.9, third-best · 313 Laps in the Top 15 (86.7%), second-most

Chase Elliott (№9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) · One win, three top fives, three top 10s · Average Finish of 6.250, fifth-best · Average Running Position of 14.071, eighth-best · Driver Rating of 95.3, seventh-best · 163 Laps in the Top 15 (57.0%), 11th-most

Ty Gibbs (№54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) · One top five, two top 10s · Average Finish of 15.333, 10th-best · Average Running Position of 14.082, ninth-best · Driver Rating of 82.6, 10th-best · 137 Laps in the Top 15 (57.6%), 10th-most

Tyler Reddick (№45 23XI Racing Toyota) · One win, four top fives, five top 10s; two poles · Average Finish of 4.600, series-best · Average Running Position of 6.822, series-best · Driver Rating of 112.1, second-best · 325 Laps in the Top 15 (90.0%), series-most

Shane Van Gisbergen (№97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet) · One top 10 · Average Finish of 13.500, eighth-best · Average Running Position of 10.752, sixth-best · Driver Rating of 97.9, sixth-best · 128 Laps in the Top 15 (78.5%), sixth-most

2026 NASCAR Cup GFT AI Driver Rankings after the AutoTrader 400 in Atlanta

Qualifying & Race — Record Data

Track Qualifying Records (By Track Length):

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota, 88.095 mph, 98.076 seconds, March 1, 2025 — (2.40 Miles)

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 94.696 mph, 129.636 seconds, March 23, 2024 — (3.41 Miles)

2025 COTA Pole Winner (Track Length — 2.40 Miles):

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota, 88.095 mph, 98.076 seconds, March 1, 2025

Track Race Records (By Track Length):

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 73.025 mph, (3:07:20), March 2, 2025 — (2.40 miles/95 Laps)

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 85.224 mph, (2:43:15), March 24, 2024 — (3.41 Miles/68 Laps)

2025 COTA Race Winner (Track Length — 2.40 Miles/95 Laps):

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 73.025 mph, (3:07:20), March 2, 2025

POLES

· The five NASCAR Cup Series races at the Circuit of The Americas has produced three different pole winners.

o Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 91.363 mph, 132.911 seconds, May 23, 2021

o Ryan Blaney, Ford, 92.759 mph, 132.343 seconds, May 26, 2022

o William Byron, Chevrolet, 93.882 mph, 130.760 seconds, March 25, 2023

o William Byron, Chevrolet, 94.696 mph, 129.636 seconds, March 23, 2024

o Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 88.095 mph, 98.076 seconds, March 1, 2025

· William Byron (2023, 2024) and Tyler Reddick (2021, 2025) lead the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Circuit of The Americas with two each.

· William Byron is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to win consecutive poles at COTA (2023, 2024).

Pit Strategy is key at COTA. Here is William Byron and the Hendrick Motorsports №24 team in 2024 executing pit stop mastery:

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WINS

· The five NASCAR Cup Series races (2021–2025) at the Circuit of The Americas have produced five different race winners:

o Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas on May 23, 2021 — he started from the eighth position.

o Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas on March 27, 2022 — he started from the 16th position.

o 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2023 — he started from the second position.

o Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron won the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas on March 24, 2024 — he started from the pole position.

o Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas on March 2, 2025 — he started from the 19th position.

AJ Allmendinger — №10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet won at COTA in the then Xfinity Series in 2023 (Our award-winning photo by Bob Francis, Go Full Throttle Racing News / GFT Digital)

COTA also has an observation tower. Located on the outside of the track near Turns 16–18, the COTA Tower is 251 feet tall at its highest point, with an observation deck 22 stories above the track. (Image Credit: Bob Francis, Go Full Throttle Racing News / GFT Digital)

Initial GFT NASCAR AI Race Predictions for the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne

REMINDER: GFT AI 1 Bot vs All Players in 2025 - GFT AI 1 Bot outperformed 98.06% of all players in the #TMDNASCAR Fantasy League

Initial GFT NASCAR Fantasy — COTA Fast Five: Byron, Elliott, SVG, Reddick, Bell, with Chastain in the Garage.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The GFT models will update after Cup Series Practice and Qualifying on Saturday. Then the data is ingested into the models and the models rerun prediction scenarios overnight. We will then publish the FINAL race prediction on our X (formerly Twitter) channel on Sunday, usually 2 hours before the Green flag. If you want our final and best predictions, follow us at https://x.com/BobFullThrottle and check the feed on Sunday. Then set your #NASCARFantasyLIVE lineup and place your bets.