AUSTIN, Texas — Christopher Bell is making the most of his late-race chances to seize victories.

Bell passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go, then held off Daytona 500 winner William Byron to win NASCAR’s first road course race of the season Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.

The late-race drama produced his second consecutive victory after his overtime win in Atlanta a week earlier.

Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma driver had to make a desperate bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of the hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and the Toyota of 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing.

Bell raced to his 11th career victory and is a multiple-race winner for the fourth consecutive season. Busch, who led 43 of 95 laps in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, faded to fifth as his winless streak stretched to 60 races dating to 2023.

“These road course races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “[Busch] was doing such a good job running his race. He bobbled and allowed me to get out front. When he did, I just said, ‘Don’t beat yourself.'”

The furious nip-and-tuck finish could have ended in a crash that ruined someone’s race and jumbled the field with a late caution flag. Busch and Bell have a heated history of collisions in Austin, notably last year when Busch confronted the younger driver over contact in a race where Bell finished second.

This time, everyone kept it clean to the end.

“Amazing to have such respectful, clean, hard racing. It was a beautiful way to end a race,” Bell said.

That didn’t mean Byron wasn’t pushing him hard. And Byron battled with Reddick, who was looking for an opening to attack the front.

“I couldn’t never get beside [Bell]. We’ve always raced well together, I didn’t want to move him blatantly,” Byron said.

Even Busch complimented Bell’s driving.

“I’ll give Christopher credit,” Busch said. “He ran me really hard.”

Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, said the consecutive wins on a superspeedway oval and a road course show the team can fight for wins every week, starting with the next two races in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“We don’t think there’s a track that we go to that we don’t have a chance to win,” Stevens said. “We have everything we need to win every single weekend.”

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott started third and quickly dropped to the back when he spun by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in the first turn, but fought back through the field to fourth.

Connor Zilisch had a wild day in his Cup Series debut for Trackhouse. Zilisch, 18, started 14th and dropped back after contact in the first lap. He recovered to get back in the top 15 by the start of the third stage.

That’s when his day ended. Zilisch couldn’t avoid a spin by teammate Daniel Suarez in Lap 50, smashed into the wall, and had to scramble out of his car when it caught fire.

ELLIOTT’S ROAD DROUGHT

Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories, but hasn’t snared one since 2021 when he won twice. He also has never won a road course or street race with a Next Gen car.

Elliott made up 17 positions in the final stage but was still upset about a possible race win snuffed out by the bump from Chastain.

“It was the first lap of the dang race,” Elliott said. “Who knows? I would have loved to have been in the mix. Easy to say when you’ve had a bad day.”

SERIES FUTURE AT COTA

NASCAR has to decide if it will return to Austin in 2026. The track has proven popular over the years with drivers, and has hosted F1 since 2012 and MotoGP since 2013. Speedway Motorsports rents the facility for race week, and track president Bobby Epstein has said he’d like to continue the partnership.

“We’ll take a look at ticket renewals, feedback from the fans who attended the race and the overall results before we talk with NASCAR about next year’s schedule,” said Mike Burch, chief operating officer for Speedway Motorsports. “One of the biggest factors will be how the drivers compete on the new National Course, a move we made to put more action and laps in front of the fans.”

UP NEXT

The Cup Series returns to ovals next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

Pitt freshman football player Mason Alexander was killed Saturday night in a car accident in his hometown of Fishers, Indiana.

Alexander, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, he was a passenger in a 2016 BMW driving south on Florida Road. The driver of the car tried to pass a 2015 Toyota before a hillcrest and swerved to avoid a head-on collision with another car traveling in the northbound lane. The BMW traveled off the road and eventually hit a tree, catching on fire.

Alexander starred at cornerback for Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, near Indianapolis, and was an ESPN 300 recruit in the 2025 class. He signed with Pitt in December, enrolled early and was set to join the team for the start of spring practice this month.

“I received a call this morning that no parent, teacher or coach ever wants to get — the news of the sudden loss of a young and promising life,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement. “Our entire program is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Mason Alexander’s passing.

“Mason had just enrolled at Pitt in January following his early graduation from Indiana’s Hamilton Southeastern High School. Even during that short time, he made a great impression on all of us. Mason was proud and excited to be a Panther, and we felt the same way about having him in our Pitt family. He will always be a Panther to us. The Alexander family and Mason’s many loved ones and friends will be in our prayers.”

Peyton Daniels, a high school teammate of Alexander’s who plays at Butler, posted about his friend on X, writing, “Mason lit up every room he was in. Brought joy and playfulness to everything and everyone. He could change the entire direction of your day with one interaction. Mason is the embodiment of exceptional. Rest Easy 15. Love forever.”

It’s hard to find the words to say right now. Mason lit up every room he was in. Brought joy and playfulness to everything and everyone. He could change the entire direction of your day with one interaction. Mason is the embodiment of exceptional. Rest Easy 15. Love forever.🤍 pic.twitter.com/FptDR74MSN

— Peyton Daniels (@daniels_peyton) March 2, 2025

The NHL trade deadline for the 2024-25 season is not until March 7, but teams have not waited until the last minute to make major moves.

For every significant trade that occurs during the season, you’ll find a grade for it here, the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks swapping goaltenders, Cam Fowler to the St. Louis Blues, Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken, the blockbuster deal sending Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes and Martin Necas to the Avalanche, J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Rangers, and the Canucks staying busy and getting Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

March 1 featured three big trades, with Ryan Lindgren headed to the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota Wild adding Gustav Nyquist, and Seth Jones joining the Florida Panthers.

Read on for grades from Ryan S. Clark and Greg Wyshynski, and check back the next time a big deal breaks.