March 3, 2025
After starting third, Chase Elliott's race at Austin spun out of control literally after a bump from Ross Chastain dropped him to 36th. After making repairs on the Stage 1 caution, he didn't catch up to the field in time as he restarted over 10 seconds behind the other lead lap cars in Stage 2. Nonetheless, the Stage 2 caution allowed him to make a frantic charge as he drove from 30th on the lap 49 caution to eventually finish 4th after passing a faltering Kyle Busch on the last lap. Although many people expected Elliott to spin Chastain out once he caught up to him, Chastain was smart for once and decided to let Elliott through unimpeded. Elliott improved from 10th in points to a tie for 4th with race winner Christopher Bell.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 3, 2025
Last year's Circuit of the Americas winner William Byron came very close to repeating the feat despite starting 15th. He ran in the top ten all race as he immediately drove up to 9th by evading the lap 1 crash then steadily worked his way through the field until he was in the top five for good starting on the lap 54 restart when he moved into 4th. He took the lead for one lap on the lap 82 restart when he beat Kyle Busch to the start-finish line, but couldn't sustain it as both Busch and Christopher Bell moved past him. He eventually followed Bell past Busch on lap 91 and was within a car length or two for most of the closing laps, but was unable to pull alongside. The second-place finish still allowed Byron to retake the full-season points lead over Ryan Blaney by two points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 3, 2025
Shane van Gisbergen led five times for 23 laps at the Circuit of the Americas, first passing pole-sitter Tyler Reddick on Lap 9 and then exchanging the lead several times with Kyle Busch during the second stage. He seemed to be poised for victory after pitting from the lead in Stage 2 to flip the stage, but Busch repassed him right after both had pitted. After consistently running in the top five, he fell to sixth on the Lap 54 restart, as his restarts were unusually slow and it took him too long to recover. He made his last pit stop from the lead on Lap 74 later than most of the other contenders, but while pitting late worked for Christopher Bell, SVG pitted a little too late to capitalize and wound up sixth. He did overtake Riley Herbst for the rookie points lead by three points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 3, 2025
A.J. Allmendinger's first road=course race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver since his win at the Charlotte Roval in 2023 was going quite swimmingly indeed as he started 12th and ran in the top 10 for the first 90 laps of the race, including leading two laps -- once on a pit-stop exchange on Lap 43 and once when he beat leader Kyle Busch to the start-finish line on a restart on Lap 54. But he plummeted through the field over the last five laps of the race due to what was believed to be a bad set of tires and ended up finishing 30th, which did not remotely reflect how well he had run in the race.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 3, 2025
Alex Bowman consistently ran between ninth and 12th in the first half of Sunday's race at Austin but was penalized on Lap 51 for cutting the course at Turn 5. After his pit stop, he fell to 34th but he steadily worked his way through the field during Stage 3 before eventually finishing ninth, exactly where he was running at his peak earlier in the race. Bowman has been quite consistent at Circuit of the Americas, as he has now finished in the top 10 there in all five of his starts, even though he has seldom led. He slightly improved from ninth to seventh in points and he remains ahead of some heavy hitters like Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Ross Chastain.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
Tyler Reddick won the pole for this weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday afternoon, and will now shift his focus to the race on Sunday as he looks to become the first repeat winner at this track in the Cup Series. Reddick took the checkered flag here back in 2023 and has been strong in every single race that the series has ran here. In addition to that victory, Reddick has a couple of fifth-place finishes to his credit at COTA, and has never finished worse than ninth in four career starts thus far. As far as DraftKings goes this weekend, Reddick is priced at a hefty $9,900 for the race at COTA. While he does have dominator upside, he becomes a bit of a risky play in tournaments because of the potential for negative Place Differential as well. You shouldn't consider Reddick a must-play in DFS this weekend, but he's not an awful choice either.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March 2, 2025
Chase Elliott, the inaugural Circuit of the Americas winner, will start third for Sunday's Echopark Texas Grand Prix. It will be the highest starting position yet for Elliott in his Cup career at the site. In three previous races at COTA, Elliott has two top-5 finishes and missed the 2023 race at the site due to injury. Outside of Chicago, Elliott has an average finish of 10.4, with seven top-5 finishes in 14 races at road courses since 2022. In final practice, Elliott ranked third in overall lap averages while ranking second in both five and 10-consecutive lap averages. Expect Elliott to compete for the win based on his strong COTA history and top-notch equipment from Hendrick Motorsports.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March 2, 2025
Shane van Gisbergen came into the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix race weekend as the favorite to win, according to sportsbooks, and nothing has happened over the course of practice and qualifying for that sentiment to change. SVG was the fastest in both practice sessions on Saturday at COTA, beating second-fastest William Byron by over half of a second in the final practice. SVG qualified sixth for Sunday's race and went on X soon after to state, "[The WeatherTech] Camaro feels great and I think we should be competitive in the race tomorrow. Looking forward to it!" With his road-course prowess and strong practice speeds, SVG is a strong DFS option in all formats this weekend. He is priced at $9,800 on DraftKings this weekend and projected to be one of the highest-scoring drivers on the slate.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Shane van Gisbergen X Account
March 2, 2025
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports will start seventh for this week's Echopark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. It will be just the second time in his Cup career that Larson will have a top-10 starting position at the Texas road course. In four previous races at COTA, Larson only has one top-10 finish, but it came in 2021, before the arrival of the Next-Gen car. Larson has been one of the top drivers in recent road course events with three wins and six top-10 finishes at the track type except for Chicago since 2022. The No. 5 Chevrolet driver also won two of the last three road course events. In final practice, Larson ranked second in overall lap averages, third in five consecutive lap averages, and had the fastest 10 consecutive lap average. With fast practice speeds and favorable recents in recent road course events, Larson is one of the favorites to compete for the win this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March 2, 2025
Christopher Bell, last week's Atlanta winner, will start 19th for this week's Circuit of the Americas race, the Echopark Texas Grand Prix. It will be the lowest starting position of his Cup career to date at the Texas road course. In four Cup races at COTA, Bell has two top-3 finishes, both coming from 2022 and 2024 events at the site. The No. 20 Toyota driver also led in his last two COTA appearances and finished in the top 15 in the last nine road course events outside of Chicago. Bell showcased top-10 speeds in the 10 consecutive and overall lap average categories in final practice while carrying a higher upside than all top-priced drivers. Bell will have a fantastic performance on Sunday for DFS lineups due to his equipment, practice speeds, favorable COTA history, and overall upside, making him a great option for all formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March
2,
2025
Looking
at
the
practice
speeds
for
this
weekend's
EchoPark
Automotive
Grand
Prix,
you
wouldn't
know
that
AJ
Allmendinger
was
struggling
very
much.
The
Kaulig
Racing
driver
was
fifth-fastest
in
the
opening
session
on
Saturday,
and
wound
up
11th-fastest
in
the
second
read more...
March 2, 2025
Austin Cindric will start 36th on Sunday's Echopark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. This is the lowest starting position for Cindric in his Cup career at a road course. At COTA in four races, Cindric has two top-10 finishes and has led three different Cup events. Since 2022 at road courses outside of Chicago, Cindric has been great on the road courses by nabbing 11 top-20 finishes in 15 events. Cindric ranked sixth in single lap times in first practice and qualified toward the back of the field this week. The No. 2 Ford driver is a must-start for cash games based on his upside alone, even without acknowledging his proficiency in road course racing. Expect Cindric to be one of the higher-rostered drivers this week, but he is one of the most straightforward recommendations for all lineup formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March 2, 2025
Connor Zilisch will be making his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Circuit of the Americas this weekend, as the 18-year-old will pilot the No. 87 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing on Sunday afternoon. Zilisch has shown speed in his Cup car all weekend, ranking third-fastest in the opening practice session on Saturday before ending up with the ninth-best 10-lap average in the final session later that day. Additionally, Zilisch had added track time, as he started from the pole and won the Xfinity Series race this weekend as well. On the Cup side, the youngster will start from 14th in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, which gives him decent Place Differential upside. However, at $8,700 on DraftKings, it's a bit risky rolling the dice on someone with no history in the series. Still, because of his talent upside, you need to have some Zilisch exposure in DFS tournaments this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
March 2, 2025
At Circuit of the Americas this weekend, Alex Bowman should be one of the highest-performing DFS drivers on the slate. The Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified back in 21st for this weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, giving him plenty of Place Differential upside for Sunday's race. The No. 48 Chevrolet also looked incredibly strong in practice on Saturday, ranking fifth-fastest in the final session of the weekend. As far as track history goes, it doesn't get much better than Alex Bowman at COTA. He finished fourth here last season despite starting back in 17th, and has never had a result worse than eighth in four career starts at this track. At just $8,300 on DraftKings and with that super high potential, Bowman is an excellent option in all DFS formats this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
March 2, 2025
Ross Chastain should definitely be on your radar at Circuit of the Americas this weekend. Not only does the Trackhouse Racing driver already have a win under his belt here, but he also owns the best average finish (4.0) among active Cup Series drivers at this track. In four career starts in Austin, Chastain hasn't finished worse than seventh, and his average driver rating of 117.4 ranks best among all drivers as well. This weekend, Chastain qualified ninth for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Additionally, the No. 1 Chevrolet ranked fastest in five-lap average during practice on Saturday afternoon. At just $8,600 on DraftKings, Ross Chastain looks like an excellent tournament DFS pick this weekend. He has been a constantly top-10 threat at road courses over the last few years, and seems to have something figured out particularly well at COTA specifically.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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