NASCAR at COTA 2024: Odds, TV times, results, starting lineups and more

AUSTIN, Texas — 2024 marks the fourth time the top three NASCAR national series have raced at the 3.41-mile Circuit of the Americas (COTA) road course.

While rain plagued the 2021 race weekend, all three series have raced under sunny skies in 2022 and 2023.

Although there is wind forecast, another nice weekend is expected for the contingency of stars, open-wheelers and sports car drivers converging upon COTA.

NASCAR Cup Series – EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

• 3:30 p.m. Sunday (all times Eastern)
• FOX, PRN affiliates, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
• 68 Laps (Stages End on Laps 15/30/68)

Shane van Gisbergen and Kamui Kobayashi return to the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend, each for the first time since the Indy road course last year.

Kobayashi will race for 23XI Racing in the specially-for-Mobil-1-renumbered No. 50 Toyota.

Van Gisbergen will race for Kaulig Racing in the No. 16 Chevrolet. Trackhouse Racing reportedly prepared the car for the organization.

Kaulig Racing also entered A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 13 Chevrolet this weekend. Allmendinger and van Gisbergen are among the favorites to win with their stout records on road courses.

Meanwhile, Timmy Hill and MBM Motorsports will take their first crack at the Cup Series since 2022.

At COTA in 2022, MBM finished 26th with Boris Said. Hill’s last start was in November 2021 at Phoenix. He finished 38th that day, out after 57 of 312 laps due to handling issues.

Kaz Grala remains in the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing.

Only three drivers have earned a top-10 finish in all three COTA races: Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman.

Bowman, with finishes of eighth, second and third, is the only one of the three without a COTA victory. His closest brush with victory was when he finished second to Chastain in 2022.

Bowman is also looking to snap a 66-race winless streak, dating back to Las Vegas that year he lost to Chastain at COTA. Coming off of a hard-fought fourth-place finish at Bristol, the momentum is in his favor.

NASCAR Cup Series at COTA Odds

Despite statistics favoring him, Alex Bowman is not among the top-10 favorites. Bowman sits at +2500.

Shane van Gisbergen, well, is no longer the unlikely underdog sportsbooks painted him as prior to the Chicago Street Course. Only Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott top him, per DraftKings:

• Tyler Reddick: +450
• Chase Elliott: +750
• Shane van Gisbergen: +900
• William Byron: +1000
• Christopher Bell: +1000
• Ty Gibbs: +1100
• Ross Chastain: +1200
• Kyle Larson: +1200
• Martin Truex Jr: +1300
• Kyle Busch/A.J. Allmendinger: +1500

The best value pick in the NASCAR Cup Series is Chris Buescher. Buescher, who had the best average finish of any driver on road courses last year (7.8), is at +2500.

Other notables: Daniel Suarez (+1600), Michael McDowell (+1700), Denny Hamlin (+2200), Austin Cindric (+2800), Kamui Kobayashi (+4000)

NASCAR Xfinity Series – Focused Health 250

• 5 p.m. Saturday
• FS1, PRN affiliates, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
• 46 Laps (Stages End on Laps 14/30/46)

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs will each make their first Xfinity Series appearance this season. Larson and Gibbs will drive for their respective Cup Series teams.

Six drivers in the race come from either an open-wheel or sports car background:

• Sage Karam: 25 IndyCar starts
• Ed Jones: 63 IndyCar starts
• Austin Green: Full-time in TA2 Trans-Am
• Brad Perez: Spec Miata
• Daniil Kvyat: Former Formula One driver
• R.C. Enerson: 6 IndyCar starts

Austin Green is also the son of past Xfinity Series winner turned NASCAR official David Green and the nephew of past Xfinity Series champion Jeff Green.

MORE: Sports car and open-wheel drivers ready for NASCAR at COTA

Alex Labbe will get to wheel the No. 35 Toyota for Joey Gase Motorsports this weekend.

His former team, DGM Racing, will have Josh Bilicki piloting their No. 92 Chevrolet.

NASCAR Xfinity Series at COTA Odds

Larson in the Hendrick Motorsports entry is the odds-on favorite for the weekend, just ahead of Ty Gibbs who won at the Indy road course last year.

Defending COTA winner A.J. Allmendinger is right behind them. The multi-time road course winners last year – Sam Mayer (3 wins) and Cole Custer (2) – are bigger longshots than you’d expect as well, according to DraftKings:

• A.J. Allmendinger (2 COTA wins): +225 (was +350)
• Kyle Larson: +260 (was +250)
• Ty GIbbs: +450 (was +350)
• Sheldon Creed: +1400 (was +1600)
• Sam Mayer: +2200 (was +1200)
• Cole Custer: +2500 (was +1800)
• Justin Allgaier: +3500 (was +1800)
• Jesse Love/Chandler Smith: +4000
• Parker Kligerman/Austin Hill: +5000 (was +2500)

Kligerman had a 9.6 average finish last year on road courses, which is the best among all active full-time drivers who are winless on road courses in the series. Creed (10.5) and Hill (10.6) are not far behind.

Sage Karam, who nearly won at Road America last year, was stacked at +10000 entering the weekend. After qualifying sixth, he is now at +5000.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – XPEL 225

• 1:30 p.m. Saturday
• FS1, MRN affiliates, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
• 42 Laps (Stages End on Laps 12/26/42)

Jack Hawksworth, Marco Andretti, Connor Zilisch and Carter Fartuch are the sports car and open-wheel drivers also taking over the Truck Series this weekend.

MORE: Sports car and open-wheel drivers ready for NASCAR at COTA

Young’s Motorsports has drivers young and old this weekend. 63-year-old Dale Quarterley will make his third Truck Series start as a teammate to 21-year-old Vicente Salas who will make his Truck Series debut.

Other notables: Ross Chastain – No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, Stefan Parsons – No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet

Chastain will be a favorite to consider for COTA. He won the pole and led 10 of 42 laps last year there. A year before, he finished fourth after leading 19 of 75 laps at Sonoma.

Points leader Tyler Ankrum has the best average finish (10.2) of any active full-time driver in the last five Truck road course races. Grant Enfinger (11.0), Ty Majeski (11.0), Ben Rhodes (12.0) and Stewart Friesen (12.4) aren’t far behind.

Last year, though, Corey Heim led the way with a 3.5 average finish on road courses, with Ankrum (7.0), Rhodes (7.5), Nick Sanchez (8.0) and Friesen (9.0) round out the top-5 among active full-time Truck Series drivers.

Keep sports betting fun by betting responsibly. Visit HaveAGamePlan.org to learn more.