NASCAR Gets New Track Layout for COTA
What’s Happening? COTA is getting a facelift! Circuit of the Americas announced on Wednesday that they will change their track layout…
After three races at Circuit of the Americas, NASCAR is changing the course layout for its 2025 event. In doing so, the series is removing one of the track’s most iconic features—here’s what you need to know.
What’s Happening? COTA is getting a facelift! Circuit of the Americas announced on Wednesday that they will change their track layout…
Since the introduction of NASCAR’s Next-Gen car in 2022, the series Road Course product has struggled to achieve the heights it once did. One track caught in the middle of this is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
COTA joined the NASCAR schedule in 2021, the final year of the old car known as the Gen-6. The Gen-6 Road Course races were great, and most fans hoped that COTA would have a long lifespan and great racing. While the racing is solid
However, the struggles with the Next-Gen car have led to changes to cars, tires, and track layouts. In 2024, Speedway Motorsports, which leases COTA for NASCAR’s race weekend, changed the design to the Charlotte Roval in hopes of improving the product.
What’s Happening? Between the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, the Charter Agreement, and driver penalties, tire compounds found their way into the…
On Wednesday, NASCAR at COTA announced that COTA will see major changes in 2025.
The new layout for the NASCAR at COTA, referred to as the National Course, features 20 turns, the same as the Grand Prix Circuit, but is 2.3 miles long compared to the former 3.41-mile course.
This change cuts off turns seven through 11, including the hairpin (Turn 11) and the 0.62-mile-long back straightaway. According to a press release from NASCAR at COTA, this will “shave roughly a minute off lap times based on early NASCAR simulations.”
When NASCAR at COTA made this announcement, many fans pointed to the Supercars series raced on this layout in 2013, a race in which Trackhouse Racing No. 88 driver Shane Van Gisbergen finished 3rd.
So, what will and can happen to the races thanks to these changes?
Of course, the most significant change is in lap times. In 2023, Tyler Reddick’s fastest lap was 2:12.71. According to the press release, this would knock that lap down to 1:12:71. Furthermore, another major factor in this shorter layout is the length of caution laps.
For fans in attendance at COTA in 2023, that race saw several overtime cautions and several multi-minute caution laps, extending the race well over its expected finishing time. While the Grand Prix layout is great, these laps kill the momentum of the race down to a drag.
This change will also add laps to the race; for the Cup Series, NASCAR at COTA estimates “from 68 laps to approximately 100.” While these laps add more action, both the Xfinity and Cup Series will more than likely keep their previous race distances of 170.5 and 231 miles.
However, one major detraction to this is the loss of the turn 11 hairpin passing zone and the turn 12 passing zone created by the back straightaway. The lack of passing on road courses is a major complaint about the Next Gen car and the reason for the changes to the Charlotte Roval in 2024.
What’s Happening? In 2018, the Charlotte Roval earned the eye of the national sports scene with its dramatic new style of…
Hopefully, the changes to the circuit will prove to be the right move. If they are not, it wouldn’t be difficult to change the circuit back following the 2025 season.
What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
