Bell makes late charge for lead and
holds off Byron at COTA for 2nd straight NASCAR victory
[March 03, 2025]
By JIM VERTUNO
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Christopher Bell is making the most of his
late-race chances to seize victories.
Bell passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go, then held off Daytona
500 winner William Byron to win NASCAR’s first road course race of
the season Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.
The late-race drama produced his second consecutive victory after
his overtime win in Atlanta a week earlier.
Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma driver had to make a desperate
bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of the
hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and the
Toyota of 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing.
Bell raced to his 11th career victory and is a multiple race winner
for the fourth consecutive season. Busch, who led 43 of 95 laps in
his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, faded to fifth as his
winless streak stretched to 60 races dating to 2023.
"These road courses races are just so much fun," Bell said. “(Busch)
was doing such a good job running his race. He bobbled and allowed
me to get out front. When he did, I just said, 'Don't beat
yourself.'"
The furious nip-and-tuck finish could have ended in a crash that
ruined someone's race and jumbled the field with a late caution
flag. Busch and Bell have a heated history of collisions in Austin,
notably last year when Busch confronted the younger driver over
contact in a race where Bell finished second.
This time, everyone kept it clean all the way to the end.
“Amazing to have such respectful clean, hard racing. It was a
beautiful way to end a race,” Bell said.
That didn't mean Byron wasn't pushing him hard. And Byron had his
own battle with Reddick, who was looking for an opening to attack
the front.
“I couldn’t never get beside (Bell). We’ve always raced well
together, I didn’t want to move him blatantly,” Byron said.
Even Busch complimented Bell's driving.
“I’ll give Christopher credit," Busch said. “He ran me really hard.”
Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, said the consecutive wins on a
superspeedway oval and a road course show the team can fight for
wins every week, starting with the next two races in Phoenix and Las
Vegas.
“We don’t think there’s a track that we go to that we don’t have a a
chance to win,” Stevens said. “We have everything we need to win
every single weekend.”
Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott, started third and quickly
dropped to the back when he spun by Trackhouse Racing's Ross
Chastain in the first turn, but fought his way back through the
field to fourth.
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Christopher Bell celebrates his win during a NASCAR Cup Series auto
race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 2,
2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
Connor Zilisch had a wild day in his Cup Series
debut for Trackhouse. The 18-year-old started 14th and dropped back
with contact in the first lap. He recovered to get back within in
the top 15 by the start of the third stage.
That's when his day ended. Zilisch couldn't avoid a spin by teammate
Daniel Suarez in lap 50, smashed into the wall, and had to scramble
out of his car when it caught fire.
Elliott's road drought
Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories, but
hasn't snared one since 2021 when he won twice He also has never won
a road course or street race with a Next Gen car.
Elliott made up 17 positions in the final stage but was still upset
about possible race win snuffed out by the bump from Chastain.
“It was the first lap of the dang race,” Elliott said. “Who knows. I
would have loved to have been in the mix. Easy to say when you've
had a bad day.”
Series future at COTA
NASCAR has to decide if it will return to Austin in 2026. The track
has proven popular over the years with drivers, and has hosted F1
since 2012 and MotoGP since 2013. Speedway Motorsports rents the
facility for race week, and track President Bobby Epstein has said
he'd like to continue the partnership.
“We’ll take a look at ticket renewals, feedback from the fans who
attended the race and the overall results before we talk with NASCAR
about next year’s schedule," said Mike Burch, chief operating
officer for Speedway Motorsports. "One of the biggest factors will
be how the drivers compete on the new National Course, a move we
made to put more action and laps in front of the fans.”
Up next
The Cup Series returns to ovals next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
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