NASCAR is cutting corners in 2025.
Cutting corners from the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), that is.
NASCAR is switching to the short, National Course layout at the Austin, Tex., track after using the full course layout shared with Formula One since it began racing at the circuit in 2021.
The change chops off the run to the the Turn 11 hairpin and shortens the long back straight to reduce the length of a lap from 3.41 miles to 2.3 miles while maintaining a 20-turn layout.
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NASCAR expects lap times to drop by about a minute, and will extend the race from 68 to 100 laps.
“The move to the National Course will make a great race experience even better for our fans with more laps and more action,” Marcus Smith, President and CEO of COTA owner Speedway Motorsports, told NASCAR.com.
“Fans will have more laps to cheer for their favorite driver from the best seats, and the action will come faster with lap times reduced by roughly a minute. The National Course and its new pavement will provide the drivers, teams and crew chiefs with a fresh look and a new challenge after running the Full Course the last four years at COTA.”
Lengths for the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races have not yet been determined.
Christopher Bell will hold the spot in the record books with the fastest Cup Series lap on the full course at 2:11.549, which he achieved this year. The Xfinity Series and Truck Series records were also set this year by Shan van Gisbergen at 2:13.985 and Corey Heim at 2:13.440.
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