NASCAR’s top drivers will compete at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday in Austin, Texas, following back-to-back races on drafting-style courses to start the 2025 season. Here are five plotlines to watch ahead of the season’s first road-course race, the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, on Sunday: According to DraftKings, three-time Australian Supercars champion Van Gisbergen is the overwhelming favorite (+450) going into the weekend. Considering what van Gisbergen has previously achieved in his few NASCAR races, that shouldn’t be shocking. He was in the lead on the last lap at Watkins Glen last season before Chris Buescher passed him in an exciting last-lap battle, and he won the first race on the streets of Chicago in 2023. It is difficult to place automobiles on the track until they are there, it is hard to put anyone else in front of van Gisbergen as the favorite for Sunday’s race.
Watch the underdog, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet Spire
Motorsports McDowell has a lot of upside and is projected by DraftKings to win Sunday at +3500. Turning left and right is nothing new to the Cup Series veteran, who won in 2023 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road layout. McDowell has three top-15 results and one top-10 in four COTA starts. McDowell has competed in every Cup Series race at COTA, with the exception of steering problems that dropped him to 38th place in the 2024 event. McDowell can’t be written off, especially when right turns are involved, as seen by his ability to make up a six-lap deficit to finish 13th in Atlanta one week ago.
How will Connor Zilisch, 18, fare in his Cup Series debut?
When Sunday’s race starts, Zilisch will be just 18 years and 223 days old, making him the youngest driver to debut in the Cup Series since Joey Logano, the three-time series champion, in 2008 at New Hampshire. At the time, Logano was 18 years and 114 days old. However, Zilisch is tied with Atlanta winner Christopher Bell for the second-best odds (+750, according to DraftKings), so don’t be fooled by his age. When Zilisch grabbed the checkered flag at Watkins Glen in September, he became the seventh driver in the history of the Xfinity Series to win in his first race. Given his prior success, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the young sensation competing.
What effects will modifications to the tire compound and track layout have?
The Cup Series will race at the Austin location for the fifth time on Sunday. Drivers will race on Sunday on the 2.3-mile National track after competing on the 3.41-mile complete configuration in Austin for the previous four seasons. With the lap count rising from 68 to 95, it will cut off the lengthy backstretch and give spectators more chances to watch cars speed by. Additionally, this weekend will be the first time since a repaving project was finished in September that cars will use the track’s new asphalt. Goodyear is therefore introducing a new tire to the track with a revised design and a new compound that ought to result in increased wear over time, thus creating more passing opportunities.
The season’s wild-card run is finally over
This Sunday’s left and right turns of COTA will provide drivers and teams a clearer idea of what they have to deal with after two wild drafting-style races at Daytona and Atlanta. As the schedule’s diversity develops over the course of the next month, it should become evident who the real contenders and pretenders are, with the one-mile Phoenix, 1.5-mile intermediates Las Vegas and Homestead, and half-mile Martinsville to finish March.
