COTA starting grid and TV schedule for the NASCAR Cup Series
Update: COTA Race Results
The field is set for the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday following a round of qualifying at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). This marks the first race with a higher horsepower package on the Next Gen car.
View the NASCAR lineup and TV schedule for COTA below.
Tyler Reddick will start from the pole position in Sunday’s race. After winning the first two races of the season, he’ll now lead the field to the green flag in Austin, Texas.
Stages:
20/45
Laps:
95
St. Petersburg / COTA
TV Schedule
Here’s the remaining events for the weekend:
Saturday
February 28, 2026
Noon ET
FOX | Fox One
NASCAR Truck Series
Race
(St. Petersburg)
3:00pm ET
CW | PRN
NASCAR O’Reilly Series
Race
(COTA)
NASCAR.com
Press Pass: Post NOAPS Race
Sunday
March 1, 2026
3:30pm ET
FOX | HBO Max | PRN
NASCAR Cup Series
Race
(COTA)
NASCAR.com
Press Pass: Post NCS Race
COTA
Starting Grid
March 1, 2026
NASCAR Cup Series
Pos | Driver | Best Time
1. Tyler Reddick
1:37.760
2. Ross Chastain
1:37.897
3. Chase Briscoe
1:37.913
4. Ryan Blaney
1:37.982
5. Chase Elliott
1:38.002
6. Michael McDowell
1:38.147
7. AJ Allmendinger
1:38.152
8. Christopher Bell
1:38.204
9. Ty Gibbs
1:38.259
10. William Byron
1:38.909
11. Zane Smith
1:38.408
12. Carson Hocevar
1:38.463
13. Shane van Gisbergen
1:38.464
14. Chris Buescher
1:38.497
15. Kyle Larson
1:38.514
16. Alex Bowman
1:38.542
17. Todd Gilliland
1:38.562
18. Cole Custer
1:38.602
19. Denny Hamlin
1:38.617
20. Joey Logano
1:38.935
21. Ty Dillon
1:38.801
22. Josh Berry
1:38.807
23. Daniel Suarez
1:38.836
24. Bubba Wallace
1:38.838
25. Connor Zilisch
1:38.895
26. Brad Keselowski
1:38.917
27. Jesse Love
1:38.996
28. Austin Cindric
1:39.00
29. Ryan Preece
1:39.082
30. Kyle Busch
1:39.160
31. John Hunter Nemechek
1:39.274
32. Riley Herbst
1:39.433
33. Austin Dillon
1:39.757
34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
1:39.781
35. Noah Gragson
1:39.858
36. Erik Jones
1:39.942
37. Cody Ware
1:40.064
NASCAR Cup Series
Point Standings
Ahead of COTA
Pos | Driver | Wins | Points
1. Tyler Reddick
125 | 2 Wins
2. Bubba Wallace
-40
3. Chase Elliott
-44
4. Carson Hocevar
-51
5. Zane Smith
-54
6. Joey Logano
-57
7. Daniel Suarez
-58
8. Ryan Blaney
-58
9. Brad Keselowski
-64
10. Chris Buescher
-64
11. Ross Chastain
-74
12. Noah Gragson
-75
13. William Byron
-75
14. Ryan Preece
-76
15. Chase Briscoe
-80
16. Shane van Gisbergen
-80
17. Ty Dillon
-81
18. AJ Allmendinger
-82
19. John Hunter Nemechek
-82
20. Michael McDowell
-82
21. Kyle Larson
-83
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
-85
23. Riley Herbst
-86
24. Kyle Busch
-89
25. Josh Berry
-91
26. Austin Cindric
-91
27. Denny Hamlin
-93
28. Cody Ware
-95
29. Erik Jones
-96
30. Cole Custer
-96
31. Christopher Bell
-100
32. Alex Bowman
-107
33. Ty Gibbs
-108
34. Austin Dillon
-108
35. Todd Gilliland
-109
36. Connor Zilisch
-111
