In the first two race weekends of the 2025 season, NASCAR officials have found themselves mired in controversy due to inconsistent rulings on last-lap accidents. It started at the World Center of Racing during Duel 2 when Erik Jones crossed the finish line first but officials deemed Austin Cindric the winner because the Team Penske car was slightly ahead of the Legacy Motor Club car at the time of the caution on the white-flag lap.

Bell raced to his second consecutive victory after an overtime win in Atlanta a week ago. Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma drover had to make a desperate bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing's Toyota.

The first NASCAR Cup Series road race of the year belongs to Christopher Bell. Bell won the Echopark Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday and held off second-place finisher William Byron and third-place finisher Tyler Reddick in the process.

Christopher Bell held off William Byron and Tyler Reddick in the final laps to win Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, giving him back-to-back Cup victories. Last weekend, Bell led only the final lap in winning at Atlanta.

Christopher Bell held off William Byron and Tyler Reddick to win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA. Here are the NASCAR COTA winners and losers.

The odds for who will stand above the field as the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion have been updated following Christopher Bell’s victory at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.