Who won the fastest lap at the COTA NASCAR Cup Series race?

Kyle Larson recorded the fastest lap at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) NASCAR Cup Series race. Xfinity Racing confirmed this achievement through a tweet, noting that Larson managed to earn an extra point for his performance despite a late spin.

Driving the Chevrolet No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson ended the race with a 32nd-place finish. He did however, manage to record the fastest lap at 1:39:24. As reported by Xfinity Racing on X:

"Found a way to score an extra point after that late spin. @KyleLarsonRacin had the @NASCAR Cup Series #FastestLap at COTA."

Larson’s race at COTA was far from smooth. The trouble began when he encountered issues with track limits. NASCAR officials had set guidelines for the “esses” section, but there was confusion regarding which turns were included. This misunderstanding was just the beginning of a difficult race for him.

Later in the race, Larson faced a critical setback when his right front wheel detached from his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The incident occurred after he exited the pit lane, causing the wheel to roll off into the grass but not onto the racing surface. Because of this, the race continued under the green flag, but Larson was penalized with a two-lap hold.

Under NASCAR rules, a lost wheel results in not only an in-race penalty but also post-race team penalties. Larson’s crew now faces additional sanctions, including suspensions for two or more race weekends.

Before these incidents, Larson had started the race from the seventh position, positioned between Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch. However, all these incidents severely affected his chances, and by Stage 3, a top-25 finish was out of reach.

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NASCAR's COTA Race Recap

Christopher Bell took his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2025 season, coming on top at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA. Having won at Atlanta Motor Speedway the previous week, Bell became the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win two of the first three races in a season.

Bell took the victory right from under Kyle Busch’s nose. Busch led a race-high 42 laps and was in control during the final stage. However, Bell overtook him with five laps to go. Busch, struggling with worn tires, settled for a fifth-place finish. Reflecting on his win, Bell told reporters:

"Almost deja vu from last year here. These road-course races are so much fun. Kyle (Busch) was leading, and we tried to be so cautious after what happened between us last year. His car started falling off, and ours was still strong. I kept thinking, 'don't beat yourself.' We didn't have the superspeedway last week circled, but we certainly had this road course in our sights." (via Newsweek)

Busch, whose last win was on June 4, 2023, at World Wide Technology Raceway, acknowledged Bell’s pace. In his own words,

"We had a really good No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevy to be able to push that hard. I just wish that maybe we had equal tires to the No. 20 (Bell). I don’t know if that was all the difference. I know he was really fast and he had a good racecar. ... I just didn’t have anything there at the end to compete with those guys." (via Newsweek)

Tyler Reddick, who started from pole position, finished third, while Chase Elliott recovered from an early incident to secure fourth place. Bubba Wallace, who had shown promise early on, won the first stage but fell back due to a pit strategy decision, finishing 20th. Ryan Preece won Stage 2 using a similar strategy but struggled in the final stage, ultimately finishing 33rd.