What to know ahead of Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA

On Saturday, the third race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will take place at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Here's what you need to know ahead of Saturday's Focused Health 250. 

Connor Zilisch is the favorite for good reason 

Zilisch won the pole and finished fourth in the Truck Series race at COTA in 2024, and he won in his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen in September 2024. On Friday, Zilisch was a half-second faster than second place in practice, and he won the pole for Saturday's race. The 18-year-old phenom went into the weekend as one of the favorites, and so far, he's showing why. 

Cup Series regulars are the biggest threat to Zilisch

Zilisch will be joined at the front of the field by a pair of Cup Series regulars, one of whom is his teammate for the weekend. Ross Chastain will start second in the JR Motorsports No. 9 car, while Hendrick Motorsports will field the No. 17 for William Byron. Both drivers have won Cup Series races at COTA — Chastain in 2022 and Byron in 2024 — and should put up a fight against Zilisch. 

RCR duo has work to do 

At the superspeedways of Daytona and Atlanta, the Richard Childress Racing duo of Jesse Love and Austin Hill were dominant. This weekend, however, they have some work to do to get to the front. Love and Hill qualified 11th and 12th, respectively, and with Zilisch and a pair of Cup Series regulars leading the pack, it will be a tough task for the two race winners thus far to get back to Victory Lane. 

The Focused Health 250 will go green shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, with coverage on the CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Pre-race coverage on the CW and PRN will begin at 2 p.m. ET.