2026 DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix
NASCAR Cup Series race
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The 2026 DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 1, 2026, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Contested over 95 laps on the 2.400 mi (3.862 km) road course, it was the third race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 36 in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
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| Date | March 1, 2026 | ||
| Location | Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.400 miles (3.862 km) | ||
| Distance | 95 laps, 228 mi (367 km) | ||
| Weather | Sunny with a temperature around 81 °F (27 °C); wind out of the southeast at 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). | ||
| Average speed | 76.474 miles per hour (123.073 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | 23XI Racing | ||
| Time | 1:37.760 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | |
| Laps | 58 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | |
| Time | 1:39.680 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.06 (3.933 million) | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman | ||
| Turn announcers | Andrew Kurland (Turn 1), Doug Turnbull (Turns 2–6A), Kyle Rickey (Turns 6B–15), and Pat Patterson (Turns 16–20) | ||
Tyler Reddick won the race. Shane van Gisbergen finished 2nd, and Christopher Bell finished 3rd. Ty Gibbs and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five, and Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, A. J. Allmendinger, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
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Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.
On November 20, 2024, it was announced that the race would move to the 2.400 mi (3.862 km) layout.[7]
On January 8, 2026, DuraMAX was announced as the title sponsor, replacing EchoPark Automotive.[8]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
Michael McDowell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 99.023 seconds and a speed of 87.253 mph (140.420 km/h).
Practice results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 99.023 | 87.253 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 99.091 | 87.193 |
| 3 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 99.253 | 87.050 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Tyler Reddick scored the pole for the race with a time of 1:37.760 and a speed of 88.380 mph (142.234 km/h).[9]
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 20
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 25
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 7 | Daniel Suárez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 50
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 95 | 61 |
| 2 | 13 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 45 |
| 3 | 8 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 95 | 34 |
| 4 | 9 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 95 | 48 |
| 5 | 6 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 40 |
| 6 | 15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 31 |
| 7 | 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 33 |
| 8 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 95 | 33 |
| 9 | 7 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 43 |
| 10 | 19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 95 | 28 |
| 11 | 24 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 95 | 31 |
| 12 | 30 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 25 |
| 13 | 10 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 26 |
| 14 | 25 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 23 |
| 15 | 20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 95 | 22 |
| 16 | 21 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 21 |
| 17 | 31 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 95 | 20 |
| 18 | 29 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 95 | 19 |
| 19 | 33 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 18 |
| 20 | 26 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 95 | 17 |
| 21 | 17 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 95 | 23 |
| 22 | 35 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 95 | 15 |
| 23 | 32 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 95 | 14 |
| 24 | 14 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 95 | 20 |
| 25 | 23 | 7 | Daniel Suárez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 20 |
| 26 | 22 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 95 | 11 |
| 27 | 27 | 33 | Jesse Love (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 0 |
| 28 | 34 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 9 |
| 29 | 18 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 95 | 11 |
| 30 | 37 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 95 | 7 |
| 31 | 12 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 | 8 |
| 32 | 28 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 95 | 5 |
| 33 | 11 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 95 | 4 |
| 34 | 36 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 93 | 3 |
| 35 | 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | 13 |
| 36 | 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman[N 1] | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 89 | 5 |
| 37 | 3 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 62 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 14 among 9 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 3 for 10
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds
- Average speed: 76.474 miles per hour (123.073 km/h)
Media
Television
Fox Sports covered the race on the television side. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, and Josh Sims handled pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds provided insight on-site during the race.
| Fox | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer Color-commentator: Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith Josh Sims | Larry McReynolds |
Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Brad Gillie Announcer: Nick Yeoman | Turn 1: Andrew Kurland Turns 2–6A: Doug Turnbull Turns 6B–15: Kyle Rickey Turns 16–20: Pat Patterson | Wendy Venturini Brett McMillan Heather Debeaux |
Standings after the race
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See also
Notes
- Bowman fell ill late in the race and was relieved by Myatt Snider. Since Bowman started the race, he is credited with a 36th place finish.