NASCAR Cup Series: Who won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas?

Following another chaotic finish at Atlanta that saw Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell come away with his first win on a drafting-style track, the series made the trip out west for its first road course race of the season at Circuit of The Americas. With a shortened track layout from years past and an increased lap count from 68 to 95, drivers were presented with more unknowns and challenges before the weekend even began.

The drama started early in Turn 1 on the opening lap when Ross Chastain made a dive-bomb move and spun Chase Elliott. The carnage caused toe link problems for Elliott, which his team later addressed on pit road at the conclusion of Stage 1. The Turn 1 run-in also caused damage to Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota and sent 18-year-old Connor Zilisch to pit road with a flat right front tire. Aside from a couple spins, Stage 1 was relatively straightforward the rest of the way with Bubba Wallace picking up the stage win while most of the drivers elected to pit for track position to begin Stage 2.

Stage 2 went caution-free, but still had some interesting developments, most notably Kyle Larson. After a pit stop on Lap 43, Larson returned to the track and lost his right front wheel, which forced him to come back down pit road to serve a two-lap penalty. Ryan Preece won the stage.

The final stage saw one stoppage for Austin Dillon, who got stuck in the gravel after getting run into by Hamlin. That set the stage for a 13-lap battle among Kyle Busch, Bell, William Byron and pole sitter Tyler Reddick. After burning up his equipment, Busch eventually faded to fifth while Byron and Reddick chased Bell down in a thrilling race to the finish.

NASCAR Cup Series: Who won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA?

Despite feeling some pressure from Byron and Reddick in the closing laps, Bell held on to pick up his second consecutive win, giving him three road course wins in his career. With a pair of wins and a chance to win the Daytona 500 in the last 10 laps, no one in the Cup Series has more momentum after the opening three races than Bell.

Full EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix finishing order and points results

The NASCAR Cup Series will shift its focus to one-mile Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona for the running of the Shriners Children's 500 on Sunday, March 9 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell is the defending race winner.