Christopher Bell gained his second consecutive race of the 2025 season, capturing the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Bell, , grew to become the primary driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win two of the primary three races to begin a season. William Byron, who completed second on the primary road-course race of 2025, gained the season-opening Daytona 500 and triumphed at COTA final yr.
Bell’s eleventh profession Cup Sequence victory denied Kyle Busch’s valiant try to interrupt a 59-race winless streak. Busch had dominated the ultimate stage and led a race-high 42 laps earlier than being handed by Bell in Flip 1 with 5 laps remaining. The 2-time sequence champion ended up fading to fifth after utilizing up his tires making an attempt to defend in opposition to Bell’s surge.
“We had a very good No. 8 Insurgent Bourbon Chevy to have the ability to push that tough,” Busch stated after the race. “I simply want that possibly we had equal tires to the No. 20 (Bell). I don’t know if that was all of the distinction. I do know he was actually quick and he had racecar. … I simply didn’t have something there on the finish to compete with these guys.”
Pole sitter and 2023 winner Tyler Reddick completed third, and Chase Elliott rebounded from an early incident to complete fourth.
Early on, it regarded like Bubba Wallace, who began second behind Reddick, his 23XI Racing teammate, may deal with the extra established road-course aces, however an early penalty shuffled him again. Nonetheless, Wallace was in a position to win the opening stage when many of the leaders opted to pit for gas and tires earlier than the section ended. Wallace, who made his pit cease after the stage ended whereas many of the remainder of the sector stayed out, may by no means catch again up with the leaders and completed twentieth.
Ryan Preece gained Stage 2 utilizing an analogous technique after Shane Van Gisbergen led most of that section. Van Gisbergen regarded like he would problem Bell, Byron and Busch for the win within the closing laps, however he couldn’t hold tempo following a restart with 17 laps remaining and completed sixth. Preece was not an element within the last stage and completed thirty third.
NASCAR Cup Sequence at COTA – Prime 10 finishers
(Beginning place in parentheses)
(19) Christopher Bell, Toyota
(15) William Byron, Chevrolet
(1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
(3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
(8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
(6) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
(24) Chris Buescher, Ford
(17) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet
(21) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
(10) Todd Gilliland, Ford
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix:
NASCAR Cup Sequence at COTA – Stage 2 outcomes
Ryan Preece assumed the lead after the highest 4 drivers – Shane Van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger and William Byron – got here to pit street two laps earlier than the stage ended. These 4 had a large enough lead that they have been nonetheless in a position to end within the Prime 10 even after their green-flag pit stops.
Preece led the ultimate two laps of the second stage, however Van Gisbergen paced the sector for almost all of it.
Listed here are 10 drivers that obtained factors on the finish of Stage 2 so as of end:
Ryan Preece
Ryan Blaney
Michael McDowell
Kyle Busch
Shane Van Gisbergen
AJ Allmendinger
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Daniel Suarez
NASCAR Cup Sequence at COTA – Stage 1 outcomes
Bubba Wallace earned his first stage win on a street course after capturing the 20-lap opening section. Wallace, who began second, elected to remain out on the monitor regardless of many of the subject making green-flag pit stops earlier than the tip of the section. Joey Logano, who completed second, additionally elected to not pit, together with Chase Elliott.
Listed here are 10 drivers that obtained factors on the finish of Stage 1 so as of end:
Bubba Wallace
Joey Logano
Shane Van Gisbergen
Kyle Busch
Chase Elliott
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Larson
Daniel Suarez
William Byron
AJ Allmendinger
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