2026 Focused Health 250 (COTA)
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 33 in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | |||
| Date | February 28, 2026 | ||
| Location | Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.400 miles (3.862 km) | ||
| Distance | 65 laps, 156 mi (251 km) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | JR Motorsports | ||
| Time | 1:37.740 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Shane van Gisbergen | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 31 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Shane van Gisbergen | JR Motorsports | |
| Time | 1:39.452 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Shane van Gisbergen | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Parker Kligerman | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie, Nick Yeoman, and Daniel Suárez | ||
| Turn announcers | Andrew Kurland (Turn 1), Doug Turnbull (Turns 2–6A), Kyle Rickey (Turns 6B–15), and Pat Patterson (Turns 16–20) | ||
The 2026 Focused Health 250 was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Contested over 65 laps on the 2.400-mile-long asphalt road course, it was the third race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the fifth running of the event.
Shane van Gisbergen, driving for JR Motorsports, continued to show road course dominance with a blistering performance, leading a race-high 31 laps and surviving a chaotic late restart to earn his fifth career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win, and his first of the season.[10] Austin Hill finished second, and Sammy Smith finished third. Jesse Love and Corey Day rounded out the top five, while Brent Crews (in his series debut), William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain, and Brennan Poole rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.
On November 20, 2024, it was announced that the race would move to the 2.400 mi (3.862 km) layout.[11]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, February 27, at 4:00 PM CST, and lasted for 50 minutes.[12]
Sam Mayer, driving for Haas Factory Team, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:38.706 seconds, and a speed of 87.533 miles per hour (140.871 km/h).[13]
Practice results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 1:38.706 | 87.533 |
| 2 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 1:38.809 | 87.441 |
| 3 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 1:38.834 | 87.419 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, February 27, at 5:05 PM CST.[12] Since Circuit of the Americas is a road course, the qualifying procedure used was a two-group system with one round. Drivers were separated into two groups, A and B. Each driver had multiple laps to set a time. Whoever set the fastest time between both groups won the pole.[14]
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is "not" the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying was set at the exit of Istanbul 8. Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, qualified on pole position with a lap of 1:37.740 seconds, and a speed of 88.398 miles per hour (142.263 km/h).[15]
Two drivers failed to qualify: Josh Williams and Tyler Gonzalez.
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 20
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 91 | Carson Kvapil | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 88 | Rajah Caruth (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 9 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
Stage Two Laps: 20
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 91 | Carson Kvapil | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 9 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 6 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 32 | Ross Chastain (i) | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 25
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 9 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 31 | Running | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 4 | Running | 50 |
| 3 | 10 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 4 | 11 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 46 |
| 5 | 12 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 6 | 7 | 19 | Brent Crews (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 65 | 5 | Running | 31 |
| 7 | 15 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 1 | Running | 46 |
| 9 | 21 | 32 | Ross Chastain (i) | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 10 | 26 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 11 | 9 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 14 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 28 | 0 | Alex Labbé | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 8 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 65 | 8 | Running | 42 |
| 15 | 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 16 | 18 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 17 | 24 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 34 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 6 | 91 | Carson Kvapil | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 2 | Running | 31 |
| 20 | 32 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 1 | 1 | Connor Zilisch (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 13 | Running | 0 |
| 22 | 31 | 45 | Lavar Scott (R) | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 16 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 35 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 20 | 25 | Nick Sanchez | AM Racing | Ford | 65 | 1 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 27 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 17 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Pardus Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 36 | 42 | J. J. Yeley[N 1] | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 23 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 29 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 19 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 32 | 30 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 13 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 34 | 33 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 64 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 22 | 55 | Sage Karam | Joey Gase Motorsports | Toyota | 53 | 0 | Suspension | 2 |
| 36 | 25 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 35 | 0 | Suspension | 1 |
| 37 | 37 | 30 | Baltazar Leguizamón | Barrett–Cope Racing | Chevrolet | 33 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 38 | 38 | 35 | Austin J. Hill | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 | 0 | Suspension | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Notes
- ^ J. J. Yeley suffered an illness during the race and was relieved by Brad Perez after the second stage. Since Yeley started the race, he is officially credited with a 28th place finish.
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 16 among 8 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 4 for 12 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 56 seconds
- Average speed: 70.411 miles per hour (113.316 km/h)
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ "2026 schedule". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
- ^ "Circuit of the Americas". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 3, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
- ^ "Entry list" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 27, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ^ "Practice Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 27, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ^ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 27, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ^ "Starting Lineup" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 27, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ^ "Race Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 28, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 28, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
- ^ "Shane van Gisbergen escapes late-race chaos to win O'Reilly race at COTA". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 28, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
- ^ "Circuit of the Americas to change course layout for Cup and Xfinity races". Jayski.com. November 20, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
- ^ a b "2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of The Americas Race Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (February 27, 2026). "NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 Practice Results at COTA". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ^ "2026 NASCAR Qualifying Procedures". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (February 27, 2026). "Zilisch, SVG Claim Front Row for O'Reilly Race at COTA". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved February 27, 2026.