Tyler Reddick survived three chaotic overtime restarts at Circuit of The Americas to secure his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The event turned into a long game with five cautions coming in the final 12 laps of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, before a clean restart allowed Reddick to pull away.
Despite the constant pressure with drivers fanning out as much as six-wide heading into a tight turn one, Reddick prevailed for his first win with 23XI Racing aboard the No. 45 Toyota, leading a race-high 41 laps.
“It means the world,” Reddick said during his FOX Sports interview. “This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better. (I) was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too.
“Just so proud of this Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. Toyota, everybody, all the resources they’ve been putting into this to help turn around the road course program means a lot.”
Behind Reddick, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch wheeled his No. 8 Chevrolet to second on the final lap, after making the pass around Alex Bowman heading to turn one.
Reddick in victory lane at COTA. (HHP/Jim Fluharty)
Despite a stellar result for the two-time champion, Busch felt Reddick’s Toyota was too strong to top at the 3.41-mile Austin, Texas, road course.
“Even if we were on equal tires, when we tested here, they were lights out,” Busch said. “Had us beat on the frontside of the runs. We needed longer runs. Even today we didn’t have great long-run speed. We had great middle-run speed.
“Overall, for as much effort and everything that we’ve put into coming here and focusing on this place, all the testing and everything we’ve been able to do during the off-season, come out here with a really good finish.
“Tyler obviously is a really good road racer,” Busch continued. “He proved it driving this car here last year. I was able to get in it and run right back to him. I’ve been trying to emulate the things he did in order to make this car fast last year, but not quite all the way there.”
Bowman wound up third for his fifth top-10 in six races, with last year’s COTA winner Ross Chastain ending the day in fourth.
Polesitter William Byron, who for the majority of the day fought back and forth with Reddick for the lead, drove his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to fifth.
“It feels good to get a top five, but we had a top-two race car really with the 45, he was really better than everybody, but I thought we were a close second,” said Byron. “We’ll keep building on it.”
How The Road Course ‘Ringers’ Fared
It was a mixed bag of a day for the road course ‘ringers,’ with 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button leading the way in 18th.
Filling in for an injured Chase Elliott aboard the No. 9 HMS Chevrolet, IMSA champion Jordan Taylor ran among the top-15 for the majority of the day, before ultimately finishing 24th.
In his second career Cup Series start, 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen restarted fourth with nine laps to go after electing to stay out on the final round of pit stops. Raikkonen would get shuffled out of the top-10, then get involved in a melee during an overtime restart, sending the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing entry to 29th on the grid.
NTT IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly didn’t have luck on his side, after having to retire from the race following a broken transaxle on lap 18. The No. 50 The Money Team Racing Chevrolet would finish 36th.
As It Happened
• An early wreck on lap two spelled the end of the day for seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, after the driver of the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet got tagged by a spinning Ty Dillon, who got turned by Chris Buescher in the process.
Due to the volume of the impact, Johnson’s suspension broke, ending his day in 38th without a lap completed.
• Later on in Stage One, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace would suffer a broken tow link and oil line, sending the No. 23 hard into the back of Kyle Larson. One lap later, the caution would fly after Larson was spun by Denny Hamlin while the No. 5 was attempting to get to pit lane.
Byron would go on to win Stage One, continuing his dominating start.
• With varying strategies beginning to come into play, Stage Two would begin a chess match that would lead into the final stage. Leader Byron and Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger would elect for a two-stop strategy, while Reddick’s team would have the No. 45 on a three-stop strategy.
Reddick would go on to win Stage Two before pitting shortly after.
Turn one at COTA proved to be an action-packed area. (HHP/David Graham)
The move for three pit stops proved to be a wise one for the 23XI Racing team, as Reddick was able to chase down the leaders in Byron and Allmendinger with fresher tires.
Though a debris caution due to dirt on the track on lap 41 would reset the strategy game.
• While Byron would get the jump on the following restart, Reddick would eventually get the best of the No. 24, retaking the lead with 22 laps to go.
Reddick was in the clear out front, until a caution flew for a stalled Brad Keselowski with 12 laps to go.
• As the leaders pit for tires and fuel, five cars stayed on the race track, including Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Hamlin, Busch and Raikkonen.
Restarting from the sixth row, Reddick would make quick work heading into turn one, retaking the lead from Bell.
• A caution would quickly fly for Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Allmendinger, who tangled in the treacherous first corner.
Another restart allowed Byron to shoot to the lead for two laps. However, Reddick would prevail once again with five laps to go.
Debris struck again, forcing overtime for the first time on the day. As calamity continued to boil over, so did the restart attempts.
A spinning Martin Truex Jr., Preece and Ryan Blaney racing around the track with contact and more debris would bring out the final two caution flags, before Reddick would clear the field to secure the win.
Keyword: Reddick Weathers The Storm, Secures COTA Victory