Austin, TX
Bell makes late charge for lead and holds off Byron at COTA
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 courses 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 all the way 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 had his own battle 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 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 his way back through the field to fourth.
Connor Zilisch had a wild day in his Cup Series debut for Trackhouse. The 18-year-old started 14th and dropped back with contact in the first lap. He recovered to get back within 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 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.
Juneteenth celebrations are happening across the city this weekend. The events will mark the 161st anniversary of the day Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay to announce that more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were free. The announcement on June 19, 1865, came more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. June 19 — known as Juneteenth — became a federal holiday in 2021.
From historical bike rides to Austin’s annual parade, here are seven events taking place in Austin.
Annual Juneteenth FunRun, June 19
The city of Austin’s African American Cultural and Heritage Facility will host a fun run starting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday at East Martin Luther King Jr. Street and Leona Street, and concluding at Hargrave Street near the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex. Participants will have one hour to complete the course. The route is the same as the parade through the African American Historical Cultural District that will start later that morning. Runners and walkers of all ages and levels can participate.
Central Texas Juneteenth Parade & Festival, June 19
The annual Juneteenth parade will take place Friday and begin at 10 a.m. at East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Leona Street and will travel down to Chicon Street before turning on Rosewood Avenue. The parade will feature floats, live music and performers.
A Very Juneteenth Comedy Jam, June 19
The Velveeta Room, Austin’s longest-running comedy club, will have shows highlighting Black voices Friday night at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. The 18+ event will feature comedians like Freddy Do Less and Roderick McDaniel. Tickets for both shows are around $23.
Sistas Walk And Talk: Juneteenth Edition, June 20
Texas Sistas Society will host a 3-mile walk and talk Saturday at 515 S. Pleasant Valley Road starting at 7:45 a.m. Texas Sistas Society is an Austin-based community created for Black women and women of color. Attendees are encouraged to wear Juneteenth colors: red, yellow, green or black, and to RSVP ahead of time.
The Carver Kickback: Juneteenth Edition, June 20
The George Washington Carver Museum in Austin is dedicated to creating a “space where the global contributions of all Black people are celebrated.” The museum is hosting a free celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday with barbecue plates, live music, vendors and activities for all ages.
Black Auteur Film Festival, June 20
The Black Auteur Film Festival, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Black filmmakers in Texas, is hosting its third annual film festival to showcase short films directed by Black Texans at AFS Cinema on Saturday. One filmmaker will win the $1,000 “Best of Fest” award, and attendees can enter a raffle for a chance to win Austin Film Society memberships and movie tickets. The festival runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $14.
Juneteenth Social Ride, June 21
Black History Bike Ride, an Austin nonprofit teaching people about the city’s Black history through cycling, is hosting its seventh annual Juneteenth ride starting at the Haskell House on Saturday at 10 a.m. Austin-based historian Harrison Eppright will serve as the ride’s guide. Registration is required for all attendees. The event is free, but donations are encouraged.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Data analyst Corey Yeung created the ATX Running Guide to help runners find community across Central Texas. What started as a personal project has become one of Austin’s most comprehensive running resources.
Looking for a Run Club? There’s a Map for That
When Corey Yeung moved to Austin three years ago, he had a simple question:
“How many run clubs are actually out there?” The answer wasn’t easy to find. While several websites listed local groups, Yeung felt none offered a complete picture. So, he decided to build one himself. What started as a spreadsheet evolved into ATX Running Guide, a website and social media platform that helps runners discover clubs throughout the Austin area.
“The list would be more useful if it were a map and search tool,” Yeung said. “The Instagram page was simply a way to communicate those free resources to the community.”
Today, the guide covers running groups from San Marcos to Hutto and serves as a one-stop resource for runners looking to connect. In this episode of KXAN’S Plus Simple Health, Corey Yeung walks us through everything you need to know about the 200-plus running clubs in Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Volts are off to a rough start in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, but maybe a little home cooking can help them get right.
After playing their first five games on the road, the Volts open play at Dell Diamond in Round Rock at 6 p.m. Thursday against the Utah Talons, kicking off an 8-game homestand.
It’s the first season the Volts will call Dell Diamond home. In the league’s inaugural season last year, the original four teams competed with a touring schedule that included a stop at Dell Diamond. This is the first year that the AUSL, now a 6-team league, will play in home markets.
They have a roster peppered with local stars, including 2-time NCAA national champion middle infielder Leighann Goode from the Texas Longhorns. Aliyah Binford, a New Braunfels native, played collegiately for Ole Miss and former Texas State pitcher Jessica Mullins made an appearance in the Volts’ previous series against the Carolina Blaze.
Goode said there’s been a bit of a learning curve, but she credits her teammates for helping her adjust to the league.
“This group has brought me in and taught me stuff, taken me under their wings,” she said. “They’ve done an awesome job.”
Legendary Texas pitcher Cat Osterman is the team’s general manager, and the head coach is Texas State’s Ricci Woodard.
“We’re ready to rock and roll at home,” Woodard said. “I’m anxious to see what happens now that we get to play in our own place.”
Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 draft, joined the team last weekend after a brief contract holdout.
The Volts are 1-4 this season, picking up their lone win over the Oklahoma City Spark on June 10. They’ll face the Talons in a 3-game series, the Chicago Bandits for a pair June 23-24, and finish the homestand with a 3-game set against the expansion Portland Cascade on June 26-28.
Ryan Sanders Baseball, the organization that owns and operates the Round Rock Express, is an operating partner with the Volts and an investor with the AUSL.
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