Live updates: William Byron wins NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA with impressive run

William Byron has won the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of 2024.

Byron dominated the earlier stages but pitted late in each one to gain track position. That strategy paid off at Circuit of the Americas, the world-famous 3.41-mile race track, and the Charlotte native paced the field for roughly the last 20 laps and took his second checkered flag.

Christopher Bell surged to a second-place finish over the final laps, passing most drivers in the Top Five. Ty Gibbs finished third, Alex Bowman fourth and Tyler Reddick fifth.

Sunday’s race didn’t have any natural cautions and became the first race since Road America in July 2022 to not have a single yellow flag outside stage breaks.

There were no such races in NASCAR from 2002-18, before having two in 2019 and one in 2020. Last year, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen each had one caution, part of the impetus for NASCAR reinstating stage breaks on road courses.

Byron started from the pole and paced the field for the majority of Stage 1, but pitted late to gain track position as Bell claimed his second stage win this year.

The No. 24 was in front for most of Stage 2, as well, and executed the same strategy. Denny Hamlin surged to the stage win, and Byron was back toward the front early in the final stage.

Ross Chastain took the lead early in the final stage and held off Byron and the rest of the field for a while, before Byron eventually passed him from the outside.

Here’s a look at the race’s biggest moments as they unfolded:

Lap 68: William Byron wins at COTA!

Lap 67: White flag! William Byron runs ahead of Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs. Bell is making that gap closer and closer. Here we go.

Lap 66: Bell passes Gibbs! He gets to the inside and bolts ahead. About 2.5 seconds back of William Byron. Can he do it?

Lap 64: Christopher Bell is battling Ty Gibbs for second, but now is running the slowest lap he has since his last pit stop! The No. 20 surged up the field and is right behind Gibbs for second. Byron with the lead by about two seconds.

Lap 61: Christopher Bell passes Alex Bowman for third! It briefly appeared that the No. 48 was pulling away, but Bell surged to the inside and now runs third.

He’s about five seconds behind Byron and 2.5 seconds back of Ty Gibbs for second. Alex Bowman is fourth, Tyler Reddick fifth, Ross Chastain sixth and AJ Allmendinger seventh.

Lap 60: Ty Gibbs passes Alex Bowman for second! William Byron maintains a lead of about 3.3 seconds. Christopher Bell is fourth, up to six seconds back of the leader, and Tyler Reddick runs fifth.

Lap 58: Byron has a comfortable lead of roughly three seconds over Alex Bowman. Ty Gibbs is third (-3.89 seconds), with Christopher Bell significantly farther back in fourth — about 10 seconds behind Byron.

Lap 54: Chase Elliott goes for a spin with 14 laps left but should be able to continue.

Lap 53: William Byron holds a roughly three-second advantage for the race lead. Alex Bowman is second, Ty Gibbs third, Tyler Reddick fourth and Christopher Bell fifth. Ross Chastain runs sixth, Chris Buescher seventh, AJ Allmendinger eighth, Kyle Busch ninth and Chase Briscoe 10th.

Kamui Kobayashi — the Japanese driver making his second Cup start of this career with 23XI Racing — went for a spin farther back in the field after contact with Josh Berry but is able to continue.

Lap 49: Martin Truex Jr. held the race lead after Christopher Bell and Shane Van Gisbergen headed down pit road. William Byron has already surged back up to second place, ahead of Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs.

Lap 48: Following those five drivers — Bell, Truex, SVG, Hamlin and Blaney — who have yet to pit and hold the top five positions, William Byron is back into sixth. Feels like this could end up being his race to lose. Byron dominated both stages but gave up the stage wins to make late pit stops, and now is poised to reclaim the lead over the final 20 laps of the race.

Lap 46: Tyler Reddick pits from the lead for his last fuel stop. Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Shane Van Gisbergen, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney run in the Top Five, but all need to pit.

Lap 45: Green flag pit stops with 23 laps to go! William Byron and Ross Chastain, the top two cars, both pit. Alex Bowman and many cars farther back pit as well, as Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell hold the lead.

Lap 44: Brad Keselowski spins! We stay green.

Lap 42: William Byron passes Ross Chastain for the lead! The No. 24 had been running side-by-side with the No. 1, got the outside and surged ahead.

Lap 40: Ryan Blaney goes for a spin! He’d been running P18.

Lap 39: Chase Elliott gets a penalty for short-cutting the course around a turn. He’s been running fifth.

Lap 36: Ty Gibbs, running second, slips in turn 19. He loses ground to leader Ross Chastain, and William Byron passes him for P2. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick falls back to seventh, and Alex Bowman moves up to fourth, right behind Gibbs.

Lap 34: Ross Chastain grabs the race lead shortly after the stage break restart!

Your Top 10 following Stage 2: Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, John Hunter Nemechek, William Byron, Daniel Hemric and Josh Berry.

Stage 2

Lap 30: Denny Hamlin takes the green and white checkered flag and wins Stage 2! Ryan Blaney a split-second behind. Martin Truex Jr. third, Todd Gilliland fourth and Ryan Preece fifth.

Lap 29: Once again, William Byron sacrifices his potential stage win to pit late and gain track position. Denny Hamlin has the lead, and most of the leaders now haven’t pitted in more than 17 laps.

Lap 28: William Byron holds a four-second lead over Ty Gibbs. Ross Chastain runs third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Ryan Blaney has surged to fifth. Three to go in Stage 2.

Lap 26: “Quite the kerfuffle,” Clint Bowyer put it on the FOX broadcast, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kamui Kobayashi have an accident far back in the field.

Shane Van Gisbergen gets a speeding penalty on pit road.

Lap 24: Christopher Bell pits. He’d been running fifth after winning Stage 1. A 19.5-second pit stop for fuel, according to the PRN broadcast.

Lap 23: Christopher Bell spins Kyle Larson in Turn 11! Race is still green. Bubba Wallace also spun farther back in the field, as well. William Byron and Tyler Reddick lead.

Lap 18: Green for Stage 2! Christopher Bell leads, followed by Michael McDowell and Ty Gibbs. William Byron quickly moves up and reclaims the lead.

Lap 17: Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric pit under the stage break caution for repairs.

Lap 16: Your Top 10 following Stage 1: Bell, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain.

Stage 1

Lap 15: Christopher Bell has his second stage win of the year and first of his career at COTA! The No. 20 Toyota Camry had been running in the Top Five throughout, and the decisions to pit by the teams of William Byron and Ty Gibbs allow Bell to cruise to the stage win.

Lap 14: William Byron pits! The top drivers had yet to make a stop throughout Stage 1, so Byron and Ty Gibbs head down pit road. That allows Christopher Bell to move into the race lead, and he will claim the stage victory and collect the playoff point.

Lap 13: Tyler Reddick is among drivers who have headed down pit road late in Stage 1, including Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.

Lap 12: Chase Briscoe, who’d been running 19th, is hit with a penalty for track limits — short-cutting the course on the turns. He gets a pass-through.

Lap 11: Both Ty Gibbs (P2) and Christopher Bell (P3) are within 2.5 seconds of leader William Byron. Five to go in Stage 1.

Lap 9: Christopher Bell has passed Tyler Reddick for third. William Byron, the pole-sitter, and Ty Gibbs are still running first and second, and Ross Chastain is fifth behind Reddick.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, AJ Allmendinger has surged to sixth, and Kyle Busch passed Austin Cindric for seventh. Denny Hamlin currently runs eighth, Kyle Larson ninth and Cindric 10th.

Lap 7: Ty Gibbs passes Tyler Reddick for second! Byron still leads, roughly halfway through Stage 1.

Lap 5: William Byron started on the pole and has led the race since the start, opening a nearly three-second lead over Tyler Reddick. Ty Gibbs is surging toward Reddick, right in front of Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain. There’s a significant gap between the Top Five and Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin battling for sixth.

Lap 2: Harrison Burton spins, far back in the field. No caution.

William Byron and Tyler Reddick paced the field around the first lap, followed by Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain. Several drivers headed down pit road after Lap 1, including Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Green flag, 3:52 p.m.: Let’s go road racing!

3:39 p.m.: “Drivers! Start your engines!” Giancarlo Esposito gives command, and engines are fired. Road racin’ coming up soon!

2:45 p.m.: We’re about an hour out from the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of 2024!

Coming up: Los Angeles Chargers kicker and Texas alum Cameron Dicker will give invocation at 3:30, and San Antonio police officer Rebecca Vermeulen will sing the national anthem at 3:31. Actor Giancarlo Esposito will give command at 3:38, and Texas Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian will wave the green flag at 3:49.

2:25 p.m.: Chris Buescher (steering rack) and Ryan Preece (valve springs) have been sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments.

2 p.m.: Today is our first chance to see the new short track package on a road course this year. The NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen cars are using a simplified diffuser at most tracks that are a mile or shorter, as well as all road courses (excluding Los Angeles, Bristol and Dover).

This race at Circuit of the Americas — the premiere race track often shortened to “COTA” in Austin, Texas — is one of five road or street courses on the schedule, in addition to Sonoma Raceway (June 9), Chicago Street Race (July 7), Watkins Glen International (Sept. 15) and the Charlotte Roval (Oct. 8).

William Byron won the pole position at yesterday’s qualifying session with a lap time of 129.636 seconds at 94.696 mph. The Charlotte native will lead the field to green for the second time in four career races at COTA.

In addition to road course legend Shane Van Gisbergen, who’s running in seven Cup Series races this year, Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start, starting 25th and driving for 23XI Racing.

Who’s the favorite to win the Echopark Automotive Grand Prix?

Tyler Reddick is favored to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at +350 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook. Ty Gibbs is the slight favorite on DraftKings at +380 (Reddick at +400), followed by William Byron, Christopher Bell, Shane Van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson — who won yesterday’s Xfinity Series race after a wild double overtime.

Shane Connuck is picking the driver with whom he shares a first name. SVG was leading during the final lap of double overtime in the Xfinity Series race, but gave up that lead to Austin Hill, who was eventually beat by a surging Larson. He’s finished at least 12th in three of the five Xfinity Series races he’s run in — and that leaves out yesterday’s official 27th-place finish as he was hit with a penalty after coming in second. That No. 16 Chevy is usually fast when it’s running, especially on road courses, and today’s race should be an opportunity for Van Gisbergen to shine.

How to watch the NASCAR race at COTA

Race: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Place: Circuit of The Americas

Date: Sunday, March 24

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET (Green flag at 3:49 p.m.)

Purse: $9,740,789

TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET

Streaming: FOX Sports

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 231.88 miles (68 laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 15; Stage 2 ends on Lap 30; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 68.

Starting lineup for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix