NASCAR Cup Series DuraMax Grand Prix Practice Results (COTA)

Michael McDowell paced NASCAR Cup Series practice for Sunday’s DuraMax Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. McDowell’s fastest lap came on the opening lap of the session, as McDowell cranked out a 1 minute, 39.023 second lap time (87.252 mph).

Ryan Blaney, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, clocked in second-fastest and was just 0.068 seconds off the fast lap time set by McDowell.

Connor Zilisch, Kyle Larson, and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-five fastest drivers in the session.

Tyler Reddick, a past winner at COTA who has also won the opening two races of the 2026 season, was 19th fastest in the session, one spot ahead of the driver regarded as the best road racer in the NASCAR Cup Series, Shane van Gisbergen, in 20th.

Christopher Bell, the defending winner of this event, was 27th fastest.

DuraMax Grand Prix Practice Results

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Diff	Speed
1	71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports Katz Coffee Chevrolet	99.023	0.000	87.252
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske Menards / Pennzoil Ford	99.091	0.068	87.193
3	88	Connor Zilisch	Trackhouse Racing Red Bull Chevrolet	99.253	0.230	87.050
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet	99.347	0.324	86.968
5	34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports Love's Travel Stops Ford	99.428	0.405	86.897
6	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet	99.489	0.466	86.844
7	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports Ally Financial Chevrolet	99.512	0.489	86.824
8	7	Daniel Suarez	Spire Motorsports Freeway Insurance Chevrolet	99.557	0.534	86.784
9	41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team Haas / Bonanza Chevrolet	99.586	0.563	86.759
10	77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports Chili's Chevrolet	99.647	0.624	86.706
11	33	Jesse Love	Richard Childress Racing C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet	99.705	0.682	86.656
12	16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing CELSIUS Energy Chevrolet	99.705	0.682	86.656
13	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet	99.706	0.683	86.655
14	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske Discount Tire Ford	99.712	0.689	86.650
15	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports Aaron's Rent to Own Ford	99.723	0.700	86.640
16	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports All-Pro Auto Reconditioning Chevrolet	99.734	0.711	86.630
17	42	John Hunter Nemechek	LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota	99.738	0.715	86.627
18	21	Josh Berry	Wood Brothers Racing DEX Ford	99.747	0.724	86.619
19	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing Toyota	99.772	0.749	86.597
20	97	Shane Van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing SafetyCulture Chevrolet	99.817	0.794	86.558
21	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Busch Light Chevrolet	99.857	0.834	86.524
22	47	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	HYAK Motorsports Ram Self Storage Chevrolet	99.866	0.843	86.516
23	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing Robinhood Toyota	99.881	0.858	86.503
24	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing Trimble Ford	99.972	0.949	86.424
25	43	Erik Jones	LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota	100.008	0.985	86.393
26	19	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing Columbia Bank Toyota	100.019	0.996	86.384
27	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing DEWALT Toyota	100.059	1.036	86.349
28	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing BREZTRI Chevrolet	100.083	1.060	86.328
29	35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing Monster Energy Toyota	100.114	1.091	86.302
30	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing Graza Ford	100.133	1.110	86.285
31	10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing Chevrolet	100.219	1.196	86.211
32	4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports Rush Truck Centers Ford	100.223	1.200	86.208
33	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing National Debt Relief Toyota	100.226	1.203	86.205
34	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Ford	100.367	1.344	86.084
35	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing Saia LTL Freight Toyota	100.403	1.380	86.053
36	60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing Castrol Ford	100.618	1.595	85.869
37	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing Parts Plus / Costa Oil Chevrolet	101.471	2.448	85.147