NASCAR EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix preview: Favorite, underdog, top storylines

After back-to-back races on drafting-style tracks to open the 2025 season, NASCAR's best will race at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday in Austin, Texas. 

Ahead of Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the season's first road-course race, here are five storylines to follow:

Favorite: Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Van Gisbergen, the three-time Australian Supercars champion, heads into the weekend as the clear favorite (+450, per DraftKings). That should come as no surprise given what van Gisbergen has already accomplished in limited NASCAR starts.

He won the inaugural race on the streets of Chicago in 2023 and was leading on the final lap at Watkins Glen last season before Chris Buescher got around him in a thrilling last-lap battle. Until cars are on the track, it is hard to put anyone else in front of van Gisbergen as the favorite for Sunday's race.

Underdog to watch: Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Listed at +3500 to win Sunday (per DraftKings), McDowell presents a lot of upside. The Cup Series veteran is no stranger to turning left and right (he won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2023). In four COTA starts, McDowell has one top-10 and three top-15 finishes.

Aside from steering issues that relegated him to a 38th-place finish in the 2024 race, McDowell has been a contender in each Cup Series race at COTA. One week removed from making up a six-lap deficit to finish 13th at Atlanta, McDowell can't be counted out, especially when right turns are involved.

How will 18-year-old Connor Zilisch perform in Cup Series debut?

Only 18 years and 223 days old when Sunday's race goes green, Zilisch will be the youngest driver to make a Cup Series debut since three-time series champion Joey Logano in 2008 at New Hampshire. Logano was 18 years and 114 days old at the time. 

Don't let the age fool you, though, as Zilisch is tied with Atlanta winner Christopher Bell for the second-best odds (+750, per DraftKings). In September, Zilisch became the seventh Xfinity Series driver all time to win in his debut race when he took the checkered flag at Watkins Glen. It would not be surprising at all, given his past success, to see the young phenom in contention.

How will changes to track layout, tire compound play out?

Sunday will be the fifth time the Cup Series has raced at the Austin venue. After competing on the 3.41-mile full layout each of the past four seasons in Austin, drivers will race Sunday on the 2.3-mile National course. That will eliminate the long backstretch, thus giving fans more opportunities to see cars come flying by with the lap count increasing from 68 to 95.

This weekend will also mark the first time cars will take to the track's fresh asphalt since a repaving project was completed in September. As a result, Goodyear is bringing a new tire to the track with an updated construction and a new compound that should produce more wear throughout a run, thus creating more passing opportunities.

Wild-card stretch to begin season finally wraps up

After a pair of unpredictable drafting-style races at Daytona and Atlanta preceding this Sunday's left and right turns of COTA, drivers and teams will start to get a better feel of what they have to work with.

With one-mile Phoenix, 1.5-mile intermediates Las Vegas and Homestead and half-mile Martinsville to finish March, it should become clear over the next month who the true contenders and pretenders are as the variety of the schedule takes shape.