What to Watch Out for in the NASCAR Cup Series Race at COTA

What’s Happening?

For the third round of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, the greatest drivers in the world head down to the Lone Star state of Austin, Texas, to take on the renowned road course of Circuit of the Americas (COTA). 23XI Racing and Tyler Reddick are riding a wave of momentum heading into the third race of the season. No team has ever gone three in a row to start the year. Can they get it done? Well, a certain driver named Shane van Gisbergen might have something to say about that. Here’s what you need to keep an eye on in today’s race at Circuit of the Americas.

• 23XI is having a strong start to the year. All four of their cars were in contention at some point in the season-opening Daytona 500, with the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick taking the win. They followed that up at Atlanta with more strong runs and Reddick going two in a row. Today, Team No. 45 tries to do what has never been done before–win the first three races to start the season. They got a great chance to do it. Tyler Reddick starts today’s race from the Busch Light Pole.
• When it comes to road courses in the NASCAR Cup Series, everyone in the room turns to look at Shane van Gisbergen. He won 5 of the 6 last year and had a modest Playoff run because of it. Win and you’re in is now gone but SVG will be looking to collect trophies nonetheless. He has some work to do, though. SVG is rolling off 13th at COTA today.
• Speaking of road course specialists, there are a number in the field today looking to dethrone SVG. One of them is his teammate, Connor Zilisch. SVG got the best of him in yesterday’s O’Reilly Series race. Can he bounce back? Other road course ringers looking to take down SVG are Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, and A. J. Allmendinger.
• Kyle Busch nearly won this race last year. He went winless the last two seasons. Is today the day that he finally snaps that extremely long winless streak?
• Coverage for today’s race in Austin, Texas begins at 3:00 PM EST on FOX. The stage breakdown is 20-45-95.

Startin Lineup

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