After back-to-back superspeedway races to start the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the series is set for yet another "wild card" race on the Circuit of the Americas road course.
The Cup Series has been racing at the Austin, Texas venue since 2021, but this coming Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set to take place on a different layout.
The race has been moved from the 20-turn, 3.41-mile (5.488-kilometer) course to the shorter 20-turn, 2.3-mile (3.701-kilometer) course, and instead of a 68-lap race, this race is set to be a 95-lap event.
The qualifying format has also changed since last year. Drivers are still split up into two timed groups, but only for the purpose of giving everybody space on the race track.
The groups are determined by using the same four-variable format that is used to determine the qualifying order for oval races.
The full formula can be found here.
But this year, the drivers are simply listed in reverse order of metric scores. In other words, the groups are no longer evenly balanced; the lower scores are in the first group, and the higher scores are in the second.
But it doesn't really matter anyway, because this year, there is no round two; the qualifying speeds from the two groups determine the starting lineup, in full, and drivers are no longer tied to a certain row because of which group they are in, either.
All things considered, it's a much, much simpler process.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix qualifying groups at COTA
Group 1
1st - Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
2nd - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
3rd - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
4th - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
5th - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
6th - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
7th - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
8th - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9th - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10th - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
11th - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
12th - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
13th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
14th - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
15th - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
16th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
17th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
18th - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
19th - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Group 2
20th - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
21st - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22nd - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
23rd - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
24th - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
25th - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
26th - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
27th - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
28th - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
29th - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
30th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
31st - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
32nd - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
33rd - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
34th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
35th - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
36th - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
37th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from Circuit of the Americas beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 2. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!