Connor Zilisch’s Cup Debut Highlights 37-Car Entry List for COTA
After back-to-back weekends filled with bump drafting, three-wide pack racing, and late-race carnage, the NASCAR Cup Series is set to return to normalcy this weekend in Austin, Texas, for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
There are a total of 37 teams entered in Sunday's first road course event of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. With the max field for any given NASCAR Cup Series field set at 40, no drivers will fail to qualify for the event.
36 of those teams are guaranteed to be in every NASCAR Cup Series event this season courtesy of NASCAR's Team Charter Agreement. However, one "Open" entry will compete on the track this weekend.
Trackhouse Racing is set to bring a fourth NASCAR Cup Series entry to the racetrack this weekend, fielding the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet for young phenom Connor Zilisch, who will look to join teammate Shane Van Gisbergen as drivers who have won on debut at NASCAR's top level.
Zilisch, who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, will be one of several drivers running double-duty at Circuit of The Americas, a list that also includes Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar and Riley Herbst.
The 18-year-old driver will look to become the first driver in NASCAR history to capture the pole in their series debut in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
New for this season, the NASCAR Cup Series will be using the 2.3-mile, 20-turn layout of the Circuit of The Americas road course, whereas for the past four seasons, NASCAR's National Series have been using the 3.41-mile full course layout.
Entry | No. | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing |
2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske |
3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing |
4 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports |
5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports |
6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing |
7 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports |
8 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing |
9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports |
10 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing |
11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing |
12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske |
13 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing |
14 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing |
15 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing |
16 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing |
17 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing |
18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske |
19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing |
20 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports |
21 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports |
22 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing |
23 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports |
24 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team |
25 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB |
26 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB |
27 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing |
28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | HYAK Motorsports |
29 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports |
30 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing |
31 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing |
32 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing |
33 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports |
34 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports |
35 | 87 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing |
36 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing |
37 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Trackhouse Racing |
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Joseph Srigley covers NASCAR for TobyChristie.com, Racing America, and OnSI, and is the owner of the #SrigleyStats brand. With a higher education in the subjects of business, mathematics, and data analytics, Joseph is able to fully understand the inner workings of the sport through multiple points of perspective.
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