In yet another wild Atlanta finish, it was Christopher Bell who came out on top and punched his ticket to the NASCAR playoffs. Now NASCAR departs the drafting style tracks for left and right turns as the best in the series head to Circuit of the Americas for the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
The change in racing style represents a massive change for the drivers. Will we see a new winner on Sunday or can Christopher Bell or William Byron return to victory lane for a second time this season? We’ll find out on Sunday when the Cup Series takes on the twists and turns of CotA.
2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Entry List
While the various road courses that NASCAR travels to can attract road course specialists, we only have one open entry for Sunday’s event at Circuit of the Americas.
Young phenom Connor Zilisch makes his Cup Series debut in the #87 car driving for Red Bull Racing. The ultra-talented Zilisch is an excellent road course driver. Zilisch won at Watkins Glen in the Xfinity Series last year and finished 4th at Circuit of the Americas in the Craftsman Truck Series race here in 2024.
Big rigs. Big dreams. 😤😤😤#FocusedHealth250 | @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/TNIdVOPv0A
— NASCAR at COTA (@NASCARatCOTA) February 28, 2025
The remainder of the field remains unchanged for Sunday’s race.
2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Predictions
While NASCAR has been running at Circuit of the Americas since 2021, this year will feature a new, shorter layout for the Cup Series drivers to attack. The long backstretch from years past has been eliminated with the cars now using a new complex of turns after turn six.
good morning from austin, the corners have changed, and now will the names
— bread perez (@bradxperez) February 28, 2025
i love @NASCARatCOTA and i love @XfinityRacing
let's have a good day today pic.twitter.com/zvMJ6eVaWk
The drivers will need to adjust to turns 6A and 6B as well as the shortened braking zone into turn 12 which will likely still be a passing zone. Of course, the iconic uphill turn one will provide a passing zone that fans will want to watch, especially on restarts.
Those restarts will undoubtedly be chaotic as cars fan out to attack the braking zone and set themselves up heading downhill into the esses. The 95-lap race is split into 20 laps in stage one, 45 laps in stage two, and 30 laps in stage three. I do expect us to get some green flag stops for the first time this season.
As for race winners, several drivers excel at this style of track. Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger are the two of the best at the discipline and both have Cup Series wins at road course circuits.
The aforementioned Zilisch could very well be a factor in Sunday’s race as well and Chase Elliott has fared well here in the past also. Tyler Reddick should be a factor on Sunday also.
However, my pick for the race winner this Sunday is Alex Bowman. The driver of the #48 has run exceptionally well at Circuit of the Americas and also notched a win at the Chicago Street Course in 2024.
Be sure to check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action from the weekend.
Friday 02/28
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 5:00 p.m. CT on the CW App
Saturday 03/01
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 11:30 p.m. CT on Prime
Focused Health 250 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 1:30 p.m. CT on the CW
Sunday 03/02
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX or Max
Stay locked into Apollo for more NASCAR and F1 Coverage throughout the racing season! Follow @CoachJayArnold and @ApolloHOU on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest and check out our Instagram – Apollo NASCAR!
We will be on-site for the live coverage this weekend so expect some extra content from Austin.
Finally, Homefield released both Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Sr merch drops this week.
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— Jay Arnold (@CoachJayArnold) February 27, 2025
Head over and use promo code “WHOOP” for 15% off your first purchase.
