Christopher Bell wins at COTA, earning back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races

Christopher Bell put together another strong drive, and the 30-year-old NASCAR driver is victorious once again.

Make it back-to-back trips to Victory Lane for Bell, who held off William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch during the final laps of the Cup Series’ race at Circuit of the Americas Sunday.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ran toward the front throughout the afternoon at the road course race in suburban Austin, Texas, and battled Busch for the lead late.

It appeared Busch was in position to snap his 59-race winless streak as the race neared its finish. But Bell got around the Richard Childress Racing veteran on Lap 91 of 95 and kept the rest of the pack behind his No. 20 Toyota.

Bell becomes the first driver to win consecutive NASCAR races since Chris Buescher at Richmond and Michigan in 2023, ending the longest run without back-to-back wins in Cup Series history.

“These road course races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “Whenever Kyle (Busch) was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious. Obviously we know what happened last year — I didn’t want that to happen, I wanted to pass him clean — and he was doing such a good job at running his race. He could get off the corners just good enough that I couldn’t get inside of him.

“Whenever I did get in front, I was just like: ‘Don’t beat yourself.’ And those were about the five or six sloppiest laps I’ve ever run. Just so happy for these guys right here. They’ve been on me hard about winning with them.”

Byron finished in second, Reddick came in third, Chase Elliott drove to a fourth-place finish and Busch took fifth.

Racing prodigy from Charlotte makes his Cup debut

Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old Charlottean, made his first career Cup start.

The up-and-coming driver born in 2006 — who won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at COTA — was hoping to become the youngest race winner in Cup Series history.

Zilisch dropped to the tail of the field after an incident during the opening lap of Sunday’s race, but the Trackhouse Racing development driver rebounded. He ran fast laps and worked his way into P14, before an incident with teammate Daniel Suárez during the final stage ended his day.

“Really unfortunate way to end my Cup Series debut,” Zilisch told reporters outside the care center. “We had a Top Five fastest car in the second stage there, went from outside the Top 30 to 14th (place) and felt really good about our car. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying.

“Racing against veterans. These guys all are very calculated and very smart in the things that they’re doing. I had a lot of fun getting to experience that and learn from a lot of those guys.”

Unofficial results from the NASCAR Cup race at COTA

Lap-by-lap updates of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Lap 95: Christopher Bell holds off William Byron and Tyler Reddick to win at COTA!

Lap 94: White flag! Here we go!

Lap 93: Christopher Bell, William Byron and Tyler Reddick run single-file as the race nears its finish.

Lap 92: Three to go: Christopher Bell leads William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson. Busch says he has a broken right rear tire. Chase Elliott is up into sixth place.

Lap 91: Christopher Bell is out in front by a split-second of William Byron, who got around Kyle Busch into P2. Tyler Reddick surges into the group as well.

Lap 90: Christopher Bell passes Kyle Busch for the lead!

Lap 86: Christopher Bell goes wide in Turn 1, giving William Byron a shot to jump into P2!

Lap 85: Kyle Larson has trouble again as his car is facing the wrong way. Race stays green.

Lap 82: Ty Gibbs spins from the middle of the field, and the race stays green.

Lap 82: Green with 13 to go!

Lap 80: Inside of 15 laps left. Kyle Busch, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick hold the top four positions, with AJ Allmendinger and Shane Van Gisbergen on the third row.

Lap 78: Caution comes out! Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon get stuck in the gravel.

Lap 77: Kyle Busch’s lead is roughly 2.5 seconds over William Byron. Christopher Bell is running his fastest laps of the day in P3.

Lap 75: Kyle Busch leads with 20 laps to go!

Lap 71: Christopher Bell and AJ Allmendinger pit. Shane Van Gisbergen and Ryan Blaney are out in front, both at least 25 laps since their last stops.

Lap 69: Kyle Busch comes down pit road from the race lead. Christopher Bell stays out, for the moment.

Lap 68: William Byron pits from third place. Leaders expected soon.

Lap 63: Kyle Busch remains the leader, ahead of Christopher Bell, William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Shane Van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley and Ryan Blaney.

Lap 56: Connor Zillisch and Daniel Suárez are out of the care center. Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and AJ Allmendinger lead.

Lap 54: Back to green with 41 laps to go! Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell find themselves up front.

Lap 53: Looks like Daniel Suárez hit a curb that sent him wide into a spin, collecting his Trackhouse teammate. Zilisch says he’s OK, and all he could see was smoke as his car was on fire.

Lap 51: CAUTION! Daniel Suárez gets spun and makes hard contact with ... Connor Zilisch. The Trackhouse Racing teammates likely knock each other out of the race.

Lap 50: Green for the final stage! Michael McDowell leads the field, ahead of Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Lap 46: Ryan Preece stayed out of another late-stage pit cycle to take the green-and-white checkered flag.

Your Top 10: Preece, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch, Shane Van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Daniel Suárez.

Stage 2

Lap 45: Ryan Preece collects the points for the stage win.

Lap 44: Big trouble for Kyle Larson! The front right tire rolls off of the No. 5 car. Larson gets to pit road.

Lap 44: Shane Van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger come to pit road from the front of the field. Ryan Preece is the new leader.

Lap 43: Pass-through for John Hunter Nemechek after a line violation. Shane Van Gisbergen leads with three to go in the stage.

Lap 42: Daniel Suárez and Chris Buescher are among cars coming to pit road under green late in the stage.

Lap 40: Denny Hamlin got a track limits penalty in Turn 5.

Lap 34: Connor Zilisch has been running fast laps in the back of the field since the 18-year-old driver headed to pit road early in the race. He’s up to P17 after the Lap 1 incident sent him all the way down into 36th place.

Lap 32: Kyle Larson has been penalized for course-cutting in Turn 3. Kyle Busch and Shane Van Gisbergen continue leading.

Lap 27: Kyle Busch gets around Shane Van Gisbergen to take the lead as the two battle at the front of the pack. Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez and William Byron round out the Top Five.

Lap 26: Shane Van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch bring us back to green for the second stage!

Lap 22: After staying out of the final pit cycle, Bubba Wallace wins Stage 1 at COTA.

Your points-getters from Stage 1: Wallace, Joey Logano, Shane Van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suárez, William Byron and AJ Allmendinger.

Stage 1

Lap 21: Bubba Wallace wins the opening stage!

Lap 19: Most top cars head down pit road just before the stage break. Bubba Wallace moves into the lead.

Lap 16: Five to go in the opening stage of this 95-lap road course race.

Your Top 10: Shane Van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, William Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe.

Lap 10: Shane Van Gisbergen moves up into the lead on the road course. Kyle Busch is up to P2, with Tyler Reddick running in third and Daniel Suárez in fourth.

Lap 4: Ty Dillon gets into the wall and is able to continue.

Lap 2: Connor Zilisch’s car sustained a broken toe link in Turn 1. Already on pit road in his Cup Series debut.

Lap 1: Already trouble on the opening lap! Chase Elliott gets turned and the field slows around Turn 1. Still green.

Green flag, 3:53 p.m.: Off we go at COTA!

3:39 p.m.: “Drivers! Start your engines!” Actor Jack Quaid gives the command to fire the engines! Road racin’ is coming up soon.

3:34 p.m.: Invocation has been given and the national anthem has been performed. Racin’ soon in Texas!

3:30 p.m.: It’s almost time for the Cup Series’ first road race of 2025!

Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old Charlottean, is set to make his first career Cup start. The up-and-coming driver born in 2006 — who won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at COTA — looks to become the youngest race winner in Cup series history.

The Trackhouse Racing development driver will pilot the No. 87 Chevrolet and start in 14th place. 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace qualified up front, while Chase Elliott and Carson Hocevar will roll off from the second row.

Hocevar is fast again, earns strong starting position

The second-best start of Hocevar’s young Cup career follows his career-best second-place finish, after which several prominent NASCAR drivers approached him on pit road.

Hocevar, who drives for Spire Motorsports, said Saturday that Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain were the only people whose comments were even remotely constructive since his P2 performance. He even heard from NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Mark Martin, who encouraged the young driver privately in addition to having his back on social media.

“The only two conversations that were — I don’t even want to say ‘negative’ — but were of criticism were the two the second I got out of the race car that everybody saw on TV,” Hocevar said Saturday at COTA before qualifying for the road-course race. “The rest were all positive for me. One of the most shocking was Mark Martin.”

Chastain said he has not spoken to Hocevar since approaching him on pit road last week, nor does he plan to ahead of Sunday’s race.

“I’m still disappointed,” Chastain said Saturday. “Still disappointed in the decisions.”

Odds/predictions for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Tyler Reddick, who won the pole position, is the favorite to win Sunday’s race at +400 odds according to FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by Shane Van Gisbergen (+450), Kyle Larson (+750), Chase Elliott (+850), Ross Chastain (+1400) and Connor Zilisch (+1400).

Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck is picking Zilisch to steal the show in his Cup Series debut. The 18-year-old Charlottean is the real deal. Zilisch has enjoyed plenty of success on road courses and various forms of racing — including winning his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen last September. Racing against top Cup guys is different, but if any young driver is ready for it, it’s Connor Zilisch on a road course.

How to watch the NASCAR race at COTA

Race: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Place: Circuit of The Americas (Austin, Texas)

Track Length: 2.40-mile asphalt road course

Date: Sunday, March 2

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Purse: $11,055,250

TV: FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)

Distance: 228.0 miles (95 Laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 20; Stage 2 ends on Lap 45; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 95.

Starting lineup for the EchoPark Automotive 400

This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM.

Shane Connuck

The Charlotte Observer

Shane Connuck is a former journalist for The Charlotte Observer