For the 2025 NASCAR season, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track was already trimmed, moving from the 3.41-mile full Grand Prix circuit to a shorter 2.3-mile layout, shortening the lap distance by about 30 percent while stretching the Cup race to 82 laps. But this year, more changes were brought to the famous circuit.
Advertisement
Last year, the goal was to boost overtakes by roughly 50 percent based on prior data, giving fans more bang for their buck in Austin. The shorter loop also played into the hands of drivers who thrive on rhythm rather than marathon runs.
This year, tweaks to Turn 6 aimed to bring the action closer to the grandstands while taking some heat off the braking zones. The revamp includes AI-backed track limit enforcement at Turn 6, with technology now keeping a close eye on who steps out of line.
Gripes surfaced during last year’s race about drivers cutting the corner at Turn 6 on the Austin road course. NASCAR has now drawn a line in the sand and will police that section just like it already did in the esses. AI-fed cameras will also join the watchtower to flag cars that wander beyond the white lines. NASCAR will only know if the gamble pays off once fans get their say on Sunday, but drivers have already weighed in. The new layout brings a tighter loop that keeps cars in view and eases strain on brakes.
Ahead of the season’s third race at COTA, Chris Buescher said (per Speedway Media), “I’m looking forward to COTA. The changes last year took away some passing zones.”
“It took away those max braking dive bomb passing zones, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did force everything to happen in turn one, which was already kind of a nasty corner… I think it was a solid decision to shorten it up and bring us by the stands and by the fans almost twice as much.
“I think we still have some decent passing zones there. It did kind of change what you put the most emphasis on when we go, and it certainly made it a lot easier on brakes,” Buescher added.
Road course ace Shane van Gisbergen also tipped his cap to the returning 2.4-mile layout, pointing to the Turn 6 bypass that funnels more action into Turn 1. He likened it to a Supercars shortcut from 2013 that stirred the pot without opening Pandora’s box. On the Turn 1 chaos, SVG noted that it is a handful, with multiple lines and little room to breathe.
All eyes are on @shanevg97 this weekend at @NASCARatCOTA
He weighs in on the return of the shorter course layout, which may prove to be an advantage for the road racing ace pic.twitter.com/GPj3jvdP2k
— PRN (@PRNlive) February 24, 2026
Restarts there can turn into a gamble. The next corner flips direction, keeping drivers on a swivel as they try to place the car right before the S’s funnel everyone into line.
Meanwhile, as Legacy Motor Club looks to keep the ball rolling, Erik Jones sees the COTA weekend as a measuring stick for the team’s road course package at the start of 2026. The group has been chipping away at this piece of the puzzle since the Next Gen era began.
He is eager to go to Texas and see where they land with changes under the hood, as the team experiments with ideas pulled from the drawing board. Jones also feels the shorter course fits the Cup Series like a glove and meshes better with how the Next Gen cars race.
