Who Will Master the Many Twists and Turns of COTA?

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NASCAR

Stratta’s Six: Who Can Summit COTA’s Peak and Win in Austin?

After two weeks of high-intensity superspeedway racing, NASCAR goes left and right this weekend in Austin. Circuit of the Americas (COTA) plays host to stock cars for a sixth-straight season, as the first of four road courses in 2026. Throughout its short NASCAR tenure, COTA has continually delivered memorable moments and highlight-reel winners year in and year out. Who can conquer COTA this time around and be crowned king of the Texas road? Here are a few contenders who hope to keep Austin’s weirdness in the rearview mirror.

Shane van Gisbergen

Modern-day NASCAR’s road course savant Shane van Gisbergen is shockingly 0-for-2 at COTA. Although Trackhouse Racing’s New Zealand star won five times on the road last year, he was only sixth here. COTA is NASCAR’s lone current road course that SVG has yet to tame. Coming into the weekend as the overwhelming favorite, van Gisbergen isn’t putting any added pressure on himself.

“It’s a tough one,” van Gisbergen said. “There are so many options there for lines and protecting. It’s a hard restart to get right and then, the next corner, goes the opposite way. You’re kind of always on defense there trying to be in the best spot before going into those esses and it single files out. It’s very physical in that turn and there isn’t much room for error.”

“It’s a track I like, but I’ve never done well at. So hopefully we do outstanding. There always is, I guess, [pressure] on a road course, but personally, I’d just like to do well. I’ve never got a good result there really, so need to do that.”

“[The new layout] just gives everyone more passing opportunities and more laps. You get to use the better part of the track more often. It was cool when NASCAR first thought about doing the short cut, They wanted to do what we did in V8 Supercars in 2013, and it was terrible through there. But what they came up with, using the next cut through, made another passing zone and a pretty tough corner off the backstraight. I thought it was a good change.”

SVG will not be lacking track time this weekend, being one of three men running double duty between O’Reilly and Cup. As if the past Supercars star needed any extra practice, SVG could easily leave COTA clutching two trophies. It will be a treat to see the road racing master hone his craft again and possibly extend his own record to six straight victories.

Tyler Reddick

Speaking of records, Tyler Reddick is chasing his own history this weekend. The Daytona 500 and Atlanta winner, Reddick aims to be the first man to go 3-0 to open a Cup season. Reddick’s road racing talents have been on prime display at COTA, with a win (2023), five top-10s, and 53 laps led here. If anyone can take the battle to SVG heads-up this weekend, Reddick likes his chances at remaining atop the leaderboard. In Atlanta, Reddick shared what about COTA complements his driving style.

“Well, years ago, it was the fact that [COTA] had so many big braking zones,” Reddick said. “When the tires were harder, you’d be very aggressive and just push. I think now maybe it’s just the laps that I have there. I’ve got to run other races there, win other things there over the years, and so I think maybe at this point, it’s just the amount of laps that I have there, just kind of understanding the track. One thing I love about it, that adds to the challenge is the track gets so many laps on it throughout the year, from all the things that are racing there, or things that are just on track, track days.”

“Every time we go there, different sections are repaved, and the grip level’s different, and that part that I really enjoy. I think, just for me, we’re able to qualify really good, and as the year went on, we needed to continue to find long run speed to keep up with Shane (van Gisbergen), and we’ve worked really hard on that in the off season, and we’re excited to see where we fall in with the gains that it looks like we’ve made. I think it’s going be really hard to be much faster than Shane, but hopefully, we just got up a little bit more.”

“Am I going to throw away a second place to do that? Probably not. But certainly, you know, 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.”

Three years ago, COTA was the site of Reddick’s first win with 23XI Racing, and he’s not been out of the top-five here ever since. A very impressive 4.6 average finish leads all drivers in Austin, with laps led in four-straight years. Reddick was also the polesitter here a year ago, showing that he’s still as stout as ever on this circuit. No driver has ever been undefeated through three Cup races to start a season, Reddick hopes to rewrite this history on Sunday.

William Byron

Another Austin ace in recent years is 2024 winner William Byron. Driver No. 24 backed up his COTA win with a strong runner-up result a year ago, one of three-straight top-fives here. 12th has been Byron’s worst finish at COTA, with laps led across each of his last three Texas showings too. Following poor results on both drafting races, Byron aims for a brighter outcome at COTA.

“The last couple weeks have been promising but not the results we want,” Byron said. “It’s also a bit expected when you look at that style of racing. I’m excited though, to get to our first road course of the season. We’ve worked really hard to not only improve that program but to keep getting better at it each year. COTA especially has been a good one for us, so hopefully we can have a better finish and pick up more points.”

Currently tied for 12th in the standings, Byron could be in store for a mega points weekend ahead. Last year’s regular season champion could take a big step towards backing up this title and reasserting Hendrick road course dominance. The No. 24’s 6.2 COTA average finish is one of the best in Sunday’s lineup; do not be surprised if Byron is in the mix here late again.

Kyle Busch

Last year’s COTA race may have gone to Christopher Bell, but it was dominated by Kyle Busch. The Richard Childress Racing driver led a race-high 42 laps, before dropping late to fifth. This was one of Busch’s four COTA top-10s, a feat only matched by three other drivers. A year removed from such a close loss, Busch eyes another breakout Texas run.

“Looking forward to COTA, I always love going there,” Busch said. “We really had a good car last year at COTA. We were on the right side of strategy and coming to pit road when we did. Had a four-second gap to the next guy behind us for the last couple laps of the race, and I don’t think they would have caught us. Unfortunately, a yellow came out and I had to try to race it out through a couple of restarts. Our two lap older tires were just enough that Christopher Bell was able to get us, so we gracefully faded to fifth.”

“I think there will be a good amount of tire falloff and more than what we’ve seen in years past. Last year, we saw a good bit of tire falloff. I just mentioned how we only had two lap older tires than Christopher Bell, and he was able to outrace me at the end of the race. Tires are going to be more paramount this weekend. You might see guys, if there’s a late caution with 10 to go, that got three or four lap old tires might come, pit, and try to drive back through the field and hope that the front guys burn their stuff up. Fresher tires more times than not, especially with more horsepower you’re going to want them.”

Busch now rides a 95-race losing drought, and COTA could spark a turnaround in the No. 8 camp. Despite the Daytona 500 pole, Speedweeks and Atlanta were both large letdowns for this RCR team with poor finishes. Now at a track where a lot more factors are in Busch’s hands, the two-time champion hopes to carry his Chevrolet to the front again.

Chase Elliott

COTA’s inaugural Cup winner from 2021’s water logged race, Chase Elliott hopes to reestablish his own road racing acumen. In three subsequent COTA races, the No. 9 has been fourth twice including last year. Still winless on road courses in the Next Gen Car, Elliott looks to end this long losing drought on Sunday. Elliott did voice his favor for last year’s change to COTA’s shorter track layout.

“I think the short course suits our cars better,” Elliott said. “And I thought it put on a better show last year than what we had had in the past there. I thought that was one of the best races of the year. It probably was the best road course race, just from an entertainment standpoint. So, hopefully that holds to be true again. I thought we had a good weekend at that event. Had an OK shot at it. An outside chance there on a late run that we chose to get tires on. So that was fun. And got back up in there in the top five.”

Top-five in the Daytona 500 and 11th in Atlanta has Elliott currently ranked third in points. Elliott is well within reach of the 23XI Racing top-two stranglehold, and possibly the lead. Should the No. 9 outrun Reddick’s 45 on Sunday, Consistent Chase could take over the standings’ top spot. Elliott has been painfully close to a Next Gen road course win. COTA may be another prime opportunity ahead for driver 9’s eighth road victory.

Ross Chastain

A highlight reel moment that lives on for COTA is 2022’s final lap here that saw Ross Chastain move two others out of the way for his maiden Cup win. This was also a first victory for Team Trackhouse, and jumpstarted the No. 1’s run to second in points that year. 12th at COTA last year was Chastain’s only finish here worse than seventh, making this his best active track. The lion’s share of attention will rightfully be on Chastain’s teammate SVG this weekend. Despite this, Trackhouse’s franchise driver could disrupt again and Keep Austin Weird.

“I don’t manage [turn one] very well,” Chastain said. “I’ve been spun out there in the O’Reilly Series race and I’ve spun people out. It’s very challenging to find your brake marker. Restarts are a different speed than the normal laps. It helps now with the restarts all being moved back towards turn 20 but definitely challenging. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes. The track was designed to build a lot of speed, have a ton of braking potential with the uphill elevation climb to Turn 1, and then trying to make a turn back the other way is really difficult. But when you get it right, it’s very rewarding.”

Chastain’s COTA consistency should not be overlooked, neither should him running Saturday’s O’Reilly Series race. The other two Trackhouse drivers are each mirroring this with maximum track time. As a result, SVG’s biggest competition may be from within his own team.

Arguably NASCAR’s most competitive and unpredictable road course today, COTA will write its next chapter this weekend. Five past years of racing in Austin have led to five different winners; SVG and many others will try to make this six. Don’t miss a moment of the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne. The Texas green flag flies Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo credits to James Gilbert/Getty Images