COTA's Shorter "National" Course Layout to be Used in NASCAR in 2025
On Wednesday, Speedway Motorsports announced a change for the fifth annual NASCAR race weekend at Circuit of the Americas, a state-of-the-art road course in Austin, Texas. For the 2025 season, the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will utilize a shorter track layout, the "National" Course as opposed to the "Full" Course, which had been used in the past.
The 20-turn "National" Course Layout will feature a track length of 2.3 miles, while the traditional "Full" Course Layout is a 20-turn 3.41-mile layout. The reconfigured "National" Course, which added six turns from the previous National Course Layout, was developed and tested on iRacing before being implemented.
NEW COURSE ACTIVATED. 😏
— NASCAR at COTA (@NASCARatCOTA) November 20, 2024
Watch as @NASCAR Cup Series driver @RossChastain tries out @COTA's National Course on @iRacing in anticipation of the 2025 #EchoParkGP!@TeamTrackhouse | #NASCARatCOTA pic.twitter.com/pLJ2IhCki8
According to the iRacing simulations, the shorter track layout is expected to cut roughly a minute off of lap times around Circuit of the Americas for the NASCAR Cup Series competitors. According to Ross Chastain, who won the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series event at COTA, the new layout is like a completely different track.
“It's going to be like basically going to a new track, a new town, new area,” said Chastain, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet. “It flows together nice, and (Turn) 12 (of the Full Course) will really change since we don’t have that long backstretch. Once I get to (Turn) 13, though, it’s all going to be the same. I’ll get my normal speed I was at last year. Gosh, this place is awesome.”
With the overall track size shrinking, Speedway Motorsports will add laps to the 2025 edition of the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix and the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250. According to a press release from Speedway Motorsports, the Cup race will be lengthened from 68 laps to approximately 100 laps in 2025.
“The move to the National Course will make a great race experience even better for our fans with more laps and more action,” Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith explained of the layout change. “Fans will have more laps to cheer for their favorite driver from the best seats, and the action will come faster with lap times reduced by roughly a minute. The National Course and its new pavement will provide the drivers, teams, and crew chiefs with a fresh look and a new challenge after running the Full Course the last four years at COTA.”
In honor of its two race dates in Texas in 2025, Speedway Motorsports is offering a special "Texas Two-Step" ticket promotion. Fans looking to attend either the March event at Circuit of the Americas or Texas Motor Speedway on May 4 will be offered a 20% discount to attend the other event.
The NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas is slated for Sunday, March 2, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 will take place the day before. The Xfinity Series event on Saturday, March 1 will be part of a double-header race day at the track as the IMSA-sanctioned VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will also compete at COTA on the same day.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.