COTA DuraMAX 400 Grand Prix Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions

Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

On Sunday, NASCAR heads back to COTA for the DuraMAX Grand Prix, where the 2.4‑mile layout returns unchanged from 2025. This year’s race is 95 laps with Stage breaks set at laps 20, 45, and then concluding on lap 95. COTA’s technical corners, heavy braking zones, and long acceleration straightaways separates the road course contenders from the pretenders, and this weekend should be no different.

On Saturday, NASCAR practice was held, with each team getting 25-minutes of practice. Here’s a look at COTA Practice Notes, COTA Group Speed Rankings, COTA Practice Speeds and 10-Lap Averages and COTA 5 and 10 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet.

Here’s the COTA qualifying results/ starting lineup.

1) Shane van Gisbergen
Start 13th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
COTA Fantasy Outlook – At COTA in the DuraMax 400 Grand Prix, look for Shane van Gisbergen to be the driver to beat, despite starting 13th (Top 2 finishers last year started in the teens). Last year at road courses, SVG won them all, except for COTA, so he’ll be looking to right that wrong and put on a display of domination. In 2025 at road courses, SVG had 5-wins, a 1.8 average finish, the best average running position (2.9), the best Driver Rating and had a 1.2 Track Type Average Speed Ranking. Last year at COTA, SVG was strong, but he just wasn’t at his best late when it counted. In the race, SVG had the 2nd best average running position (3.9), led the 2nd most laps (23), earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then finished 6th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, SVG ranked 2nd but take note his speed over the segments were 1st, 1st, 6th and then 6th. In 2024, SVG finished an asterisk mark 20th. In the race, SVG was caught speeding on pit road on lap 26 while running in 9th and then later when he was in 13th on lap 41, he lost first gear. Despite his problems, he still managed to have the 13th best Total Speed Ranking. In practice, the #97 was fast and SVG ranked 3rd overall for both 5 and 10-lap averages.
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2) Tyler Reddick
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
COTA Fantasy Outlook – Polesitter, Tyler Reddick is red hot and at COTA, he’ll be vying for his 3rd straight win to start 2026. At COTA, Reddick has been a super-elite performer and in the Next Gen, Reddick has 1-win, the best average finish (3.5), the best Total Speed Ranking (2.8), the best average running position, the best Driver Rating (3.3 average ranking) and he’s the only driver who’s finished in the top 5 every race. Last year, Reddick was one of the best. In the race, Reddick started 1st, led 9 laps, had the 4th best average running position (5.9), earned the 5th best Driver Rating and then finished 3rd. In terms of speed stats, Reddick ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run and had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2024, Reddick finished 5th, had the 3rd best average running position (5.5), earned the 4th best Driver Rating and had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2023, Reddick smoked the field en route to victory lane. In the race, Reddick earned the best Driver Rating, led the most laps (41) and had a 3.7 average running position. In terms of speed stats, Reddick ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings, #1 for Green Flag Speed and then ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run. Last year at road courses, Reddick was a standout performer, going 5 for 6 at finishing in the top ten, had the 3rd best average finish (8.5), the 6th best Driver Rating and his Track Type Total Speed Ranking ranked 10th.
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Further Recommended Reading = COTA Finish Projections, DraftKings COTA Scoring Projections, FanDuel COTA Scoring Projections, COTA Quick Rankings, COTA Next Gen Speed Rankings, COTA Next Gen Average Finishes, COTA Next Gen Driver Ratings, COTA 2025 Total Speed Rankings, Road Courses 2025 Total Speed Rankings

3) Christopher Bell
Start 8th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High 
COTA Fantasy Outlook – Defending COTA winner, Christopher Bell is a super-elite road course racer who’ll be tough to beat. Bell’s been elite at COTA and in the Next Gen over his three incident free races, Bell’s had results of 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Additionally in the Next Gen, Bell has the 5th best Driver Rating and the 7th best Speed Ranking. Last year, Bell came up clutch and hit the afterburners in closing time to take home the trophy. In the race, Bell started 19th, finished 9th in Stage #2, led 8 laps, had a 6.7 average running position and of course finished 1st when the checkered flag waved. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 5th but take note his speed over the segments were 12th, 5th, 3rd and then 1st. In 2024, Bell raced his way to a runner-up finish despite using what proved to be inferior pit strategy. In the race, Bell had the fastest car late in a run, had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating and had a 6.5 average running position (skewed by pit strategy). If the race would’ve been a few laps longer, there’s a good chance Bell likely would’ve won. In 2023, Bell was a top ten contender, but his race was far from incident free, and he was involved in a late crash, leading to a 31st. In 2022, Bell finished 3rd. Last year at road courses, Bell had the 2nd best average finish (6.2), the 2nd best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and the 2nd best Driver Rating. In practice, the #20 wasn’t where Bell wanted at the start, but it got more to his liking after adjustments.
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