The NASCAR Cup Series heads to a road course for the first time this season as the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set for Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX.
The odds board looks quite different compared to the first two weeks of the season, so be sure to read our free betting picks before plunking your money down on March 2.
Odds to win 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix
| Driver |  |
|---|---|
| Shane Van Gisbergen | +500 |
| Connor Zilisch | +550 |
| Tyler Reddick | +700 |
| William Byron | +750 |
| Kyle Larson | +900 |
| Christopher Bell | +1100 |
| Chase Elliott | +1100 |
| AJ Allmendinger | +1200 |
| Ross Chastain | +1400 |
| Ty Gibbs | +1800 |
| Alex Bowman | +2000 |
| Kyle Busch | +2200 |
| Daniel Suarez | +2500 |
| Chris Buescher | +2500 |
| Denny Hamlin | +3000 |
| Chase Briscoe | +3000 |
| Ryan Blaney | +3000 |
| Michael McDowell | +3000 |
| Austin Cindric | +3500 |
| Joey Logano | +3500 |
Odds as of 3-1.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix field
NASCAR fans have grown accustomed to seeing Shane Van Gisbergen's name atop the board ahead of road races, but 18-year-old Connor Zilisch is an unfamiliar face as he opened up as the second-choice in the wagering among 37 entrants.
The Trackhouse Racing development driver will pilot the No. 87 Chevrolet this Sunday, one day after competing in his full-time ride in the Xfinity Series. Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, and Riley Herbst will also be pulling "double duty," this weekend, getting extra reps on the 2.3-mile, 20-turn Circuit of The Americas layout.
NASCAR previously used the full 3.41-mile COTA course, so prior results here should be taken with a grain of salt.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix expert picks and predictions
Odds listed below courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook as of 3-1.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix pre-qualifying favorites
Tyler Reddick (+700)
Tyler Reddick answered the call when pundits wondered why Toyota and their drivers suffered on road courses in 2022. He led 41 laps in his COTA victory in 2023. He was ninth and fifth, respectively, in his other two starts there. He’s qualified first, fourth, second and third in his four COTA races as well.
In his last 11 road course starts, Reddick has one win, three Top-5 finishes, and six Top-10 results. He, Ross Chastain, and Alex Bowman are the only drivers to finish in the Top-10 in all four COTA events.
Christopher Bell (+1100)
Christopher Bell started fourth and finished second last year and also finished runner-up in the final road course race on the Charlotte ROVAL last Fall. Bell was ninth in Sonoma, too.
Chase Elliott (+1100)
The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the inaugural race in 2021 and was fourth a year later. He missed the 2023 race due to injury, but Chase Elliott finished 16th last year. He had four Top-10 finishes in five road course starts in 2023. He has seven road course wins, which ranks third all-time.
AJ Allmendinger (+1200)
While his Cup Series COTA finishes read 33rd, 34th, and sixth, respectively, the 2022 race was an opportunity to win before a last-lap dust up with Ross Chastain. In four Xfinity Series starts, AJ Allmendinger has three Top-2 finishes, including a pair of victories in 2022 and 2023. He finished 10th last year.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix sleepers
Ross Chastain (+1400)
Ross Chastain finished fourth in 2021, won in 2022, was fourth in 2023 and seventh a year ago. A year after scoring one Top-5 finish on road courses, Chastain rallied to secure three finishes of seventh or better in five road course starts last season.
Ty Gibbs (+1800)
A great road racer in ARCA and the Xfinity Series, Ty Gibbs finished in the Top 10 four times in six starts on these tracks as a Cup Series rookie in 2023, including his final two finishes of fifth and fourth. Last season, Gibbs finished third in COTA and runner-up on the streets of Chicago.
Alex Bowman (+2000)
This is a great opportunity for the Hendrick Motorsports driver to shine. Alex Bowman is 4-for-4 in Top-10 finishes at COTA, including finishes of second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the last three.
Chris Buescher (+2500)
His last five road course finishes of 2022 read: second (Sonoma), sixth (Road America), 10th (Indianapolis), ninth (Watkins Glen) and sixth (ROVAL). His six road course finishes of 2023 say: Eighth (COTA), fourth (Sonoma), 10th (Chicago), 11th (Indianapolis), seventh (Watkins Glen), seventh (ROVAL). Last year he finished eighth (COTA), third (Sonoma), 20th (Chicago), first (Watkins Glen) and 17th (ROVAL).
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix fades
Shane Van Gisbergen (+500)
I like the driver but not the number. In 16 NASCAR Cup Series starts, six have occurred on road courses. He has two Top-5 finishes and four Top-10 results. While he won three road course races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last season, he was also 27th in COTA.
Connor Zilisch (+600)
Really steep odds for a driver making his NASCAR Cup Series debut. While I think Connor Zilisch is going to be a star one day, I don’t think he wins his maiden Cup start. Van Gisbergen was the first driver since 1960 to do so in his Chicago street course victory a few years ago but that was also the first street race for any of these full-time drivers in a discipline that Van Gisbergen was familiar with. Zilisch doesn’t have that same advantage on this track.
Kyle Larson (+900)
Kyle Larson won twice on road courses last season at Sonoma and the Charlotte ROVAL. Those were also his only Top-10 results on like tracks, too. He was 29th at COTA in 2022, 14th in 2023, and 17th last year. He had one Top-5 finish in six road course starts in 2023 also.
Denny Hamlin (+3000)
The number is enticing, but COTA isn’t one of Denny Hamlin's better tracks. He's run 14th, 18th, 16th, and 14th in four career starts, while his finishes on road tracks in 2023 were 16th, 36th, 11th, 19th, second, 37th, respectively, and 11th, 38th, 39th, 23rd and 14th, respectively, a season ago.
Michael McDowell (+3500)
Not one of his better tracks. Michael McDowell’s four COTA finishes are seventh, 13th, 12th, and 38th, respectively. Yes, he won on Indianapolis’ road course in 2023, but that was his lone Top-5 finish in six road course starts with his final two being 36th and 32nd. He did have three Top-7 finishes in five road course starts last season, but this track wasn’t one of them.
Joey Logano (+3500)
Joey Logano was third here in 2021 but 31st, 28th, and 11th the last three years. However, he had four Top-10 finishes in the final five road races of the 2023 season including two Top 5s, but results of 11th, 21st, 23rd, 15th and eighth on like tracks last year.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix prop pick: Kyle Busch Top 5 finish
Kyle Busch (+2200 to win outright) has three Top-10 finishes in four COTA tries, including a runner-up finish in 2023 and ninth last year. In fact, he had four Top-5 finishes in six road course races in 2023, with three of the four resulting in a Top 3 and a pair of Top-10 finishes in five road course events last season.
Pick: Busch Top 5 finish (+330 at DraftKings)
Popular motor sports futures odds
COTA track analysis
The fifth running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season arrives with a distinctive new look and feel for both drivers and fans alike at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
The season’s third race will shift from COTA’s 3.41-mile, 20-turn Full Course layout to the facility’s equally challenging 2.40-mile, 20-turn National Course.
The reconfiguration will eliminate approximately a mile of the backside of the permanent road course’s traditional layout and is expected to shave roughly a minute off lap times based on early NASCAR simulations. The National Course layout will begin upon exit of the esses section and then return to the traditional course at the tail end of the long backstretch.
From a driver’s perspective, they will not only have a new layout to master but also contend with the full repave the track underwent after last season’s NASCAR race weekend. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who won the 2022 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, had the opportunity to run the existing National Course on iRacing and shared his thoughts on the simulation.
“It’s going to be like basically going to a new track, a new town, new area,” said Chastain, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet. “It flows together nice, and (Turn) 12 (of the Full Course) will really change since we don’t have that long backstretch. Once I get to (Turn) 13, though, it’s all going to be the same. I’ll get my normal speed I was at last year. Gosh, this place is awesome.”
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix trends
- Ford is 0-for-4 at COTA while Chevrolet is 3-for-4. Toyota won in 2023. However, Chevy drivers finished 2-3-4-5-7 that day to have five cars up front. Toyota only had two of the Top 15.
- Chevrolet, who have won the pole for four of the last five road course races, won on four of the five road courses races last season, with all wins coming via Hendrick Motorsports with Byron in COTA, Larson in Sonoma and the Charlotte ROVAL, and Alex Bowman in Chicago.
- The COTA winner has finished second, eighth, first, and eighth in the four second stages, so look for the winner to be in the points by the midway point of the race.
- In 15 of the 17 road course races with the Next Gen car, the race winner has started in the Top 8.
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EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix info
| Location: | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX |
| Date: | Sunday, 3-2-2025 |
| Start time: | 3:30 p.m. ET |
| TV: | FOX |
Previous EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix winners
Chevrolet has taken three of the first four editions of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA.
| Year | Winner |
| 2024 | William Byron |
| 2023 | Tyler Reddick |
| 2022 | Ross Chastain |
| 2021 | Chase Elliott |
How to make EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix picks
NASCAR betting is a nuanced process that can take any number of factors into account, and spans several different types of bets. Fortunately, our How to Bet NASCAR guide walks you through the basics, including how to read odds, different markets that are available, and what to consider when making your bets.
