NASCAR Qualifying Today: COTA start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series hits the Circuit of the Americas — commonly referred to as COTA — today to set the grid for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

COTA is the first road course on which the Cup Series cars will race this season, with oval races at Bowman Gray Stadium, Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway already in the books.

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The event in Austin, Texas, has been held since 2021, with Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and William Byron having tasted victory there in recent years.

Byron won from pole position last year, and with two race victories under his belt at Daytona and Atlanta this season, the #24 Chevrolet driver will be heading into the weekend full of confidence.

However, several of the field will be looking to prevent the 27-year-old from claiming pole on Saturday, including a young teenage NASCAR phenom.

18-year-old Connor Zilisch is set for his Cup Series debut this weekend and will certainly be one to watch, particularly having already won the pole position in the Xfinity Series qualifying on Friday.

With all of that said, let's get into this afternoon's timings and how you can watch all of the action unfold live.

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NASCAR Cup Series: Daytona 500 qualifying start times

The all-important qualifying session from COTA kicks off today (Saturday, March 1, 2025) at 12:30 pm ET. Here are the start times converted to your city and time zone:

Qualifying action from COTA will be available for NASCAR fans to watch on television.

All of the action will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video in the United States. Radio coverage is also available from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

How to watch NASCAR on TV

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series is set to be broadcast across several broadcast partners in the United States: FOX, Prime Video, TNT Sports, and NBC.

Action from COTA this weekend will be broadcast across two of those, with Saturday's qualifying session set to be shown live on Amazon Prime Video and Sunday's race live on FOX.

Broadcast details vary depending on your location. Please check below to see how you can catch the action from COTA.

How many laps is the NASCAR COTA race?

Circuit of the Americas is a 2.356-mile road course. The scheduled distance of 228 miles will take 95 laps to complete.

What date is the 2025 NASCAR COTA race?

Sunday, March 2nd.

What time is the 2025 NASCAR COTA race?

The NASCAR COTA race is at 3:30 PM ET.

What channel is the NASCAR COTA race on?

The NASCAR COTA race will have TV coverage from FOX. The race can be heard on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 90.

Where is the NASCAR COTA race located?

The NASCAR COTA race takes place at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

How many miles is the NASCAR COTA race?

The NASCAR COTA race is 228 miles or 366.93 kilometers long.

When was the first NASCAR COTA race run?

2021 was the first year the NASCAR COTA race was held at Circuit of the Americas.

Who was the first winner of the NASCAR COTA race?

Chase Elliott won the first NASCAR COTA race in 2021, claiming his twelfth Cup Series victory in doing so.

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