Tyler Reddick Holds Off William Byron for COTA Win

AP Photo

AUSTIN, TX – RIS – In the race that would never end, Tyler Reddick survived three overtimes to  finally take the best car all day to victory lane.  . NASCAR called a caution for dirt on track but off the racing line, igniting a series of restarts and new battles all again won by Reddick to end the race.  Reddick battled all day with William Byron and a host of others to finally cross the finish line first for his initial win of 2023.

In total, the day had 8 restarts. On one, Reddick took the lead after starting fifth when four drivers chose not to pit. On two more, Reddick held off the entire field on the inside heading into turn 1 and checked out as drivers wrecked behind him. NASCAR chose not to call a caution on the final restart, allowing Reddick to finally take the white flag and, eventually, the win.

“(The win) means the world,” Reddick said after the race. “This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better. Was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too.”

It was Reddick's first win with 23XI Racing, but the fourth of his career after winning three with Richard Childress Racing last season.

Of the three notable one-off drivers in this race, Jordan Taylor led the charge for most of the day in the back half of the top ten before falling to 24th on the final restart. Jenson Button climbed to 18th after surviving all of the day's calamitous restarts, while Kimi Raikkonen would finish 29th after being involved in a lot of contact during one of the overtime restarts.

Reddick and Byron were the race kingpins most of the day.

 Leading more laps that almost everyone else in the field all together.  Those two were the show for most of the race and Byron had been on a winning streak, with two victories already in the books, but Reddick showed no awe for the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet in successfully passing him time and time again.

Reddick held the lead with 12 laps remaining when Brad Keselowski‘s Ford stalled, bringing out a caution, bunching the field and changing the dynamic of the finish.

During the final caution period, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kimi Raikkonen and Ryan Preece stayed on track to inherit the starting spots at the front. Reddick dropped out of the lead to pit for tires and fuel. Chastain, who had been running third, was delayed in the pits by a slow right-front tire change.

On the restart, the field crowded into Turn 1, and Reddick burst into the lead as several cars, including Chastain, spun out, causing another caution. Finally, the race ended under green and Reddick celebrated.

Byron won the first stage, leading eight laps to five by Reddick.  Reddick breezed to a win in Stage 2. He was seven seconds in front of Austin Dillon at stage end.

Former champion Jimmie Johnson, making a rare Cup start, had a short day. He was one of five drivers involved in a crash on Lap 3, and he parked his Chevrolet for the day. … Bubba Wallace‘s car was damaged in a Lap-11 accident that also involved Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. He did not return to the race. … Kyle Larson’s car suffered damage in an early-race accident.

The NASCAR Cup series now heads to Richmond Raceway on a shorter track witch will feature traditional oval track racing.

Unofficial Results: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, March 26, 2023, Circuit of The Americas
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 75, , 1, 6, 41, 6, 50, Running
2) 9, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Netspend Chevrolet, 75, 7, , , , , 39, Running
3) 6, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 75, 4, , , , , 41, Running
4) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 75, 5, , , , , 39, Running
5) 1, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 75, 1, , 6, 28, 1, 42, Running
6) 3, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 75, 2, , 1, 2, , 40, Running
7) 18, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Blue Buffalo Chevrolet, 75, , 6, , , , 35, Running
8) 32, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 75, , 5, 1, 1, , 35, Running
9) 17, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota, 75, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 36, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ruedebusch Ford, 75, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 27, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 OpTic Gaming Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 20, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 75, , 3, , , , 33, Running
13) 29, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 75, , 4, , , , 31, Running
14) 13, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 75, , 7, , , , 27, Running
15) 19, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 75, , 9, , , , 24, Running
16) 21, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 75, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 25, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 75, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 24, Jenson Button, No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford, 75, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 23, Justin Haley, No. 31 Celsius Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 10, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet, 75, , 10, , , , 18, Running
21) 38, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Knauf Ford, 75, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 16, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 75, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 8, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 75, , 8, , , , 17, Running
24) 4, Jordan Taylor, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 75, 8, , , , , 16, Running
25) 37, Cody Ware, No. 51 PublicSq Ford, 75, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 33, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 78 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 5, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 75, 6, , 1, 1, , 15, Running
28) 15, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 75, , , 1, 1, , 9, Running
29) 22, * Kimi Raikkonen, No. 91 Onx Homes/iLOQ Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 39, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 74, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 14, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 73, 9, , 1, 1, , 8, Accident
32) 26, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 68, 10, , , , , 6, Accident
33) 28, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, 62, , 2, , , , 13, Accident
34) 7, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Chevrolet, 60, 3, , , , , 11, Accident
35) 30, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford, 56, , , , , , 2, Driveshaft
36) 35, * Conor Daly, No. 50 BitNile.com Chevrolet, 16, , , , , , 1, Transmission
37) 11, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 MoneyLion Toyota, 10, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 31, * Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Club Wyndham Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, DVP
39) 34, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Length: 75 Laps, 255.75 Miles
Time: 3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 32 Secs.
Average Speed: 72.886 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.411 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 2, 16, 48, 1, 99, 8, 9, 20, 41
Stage 2 Top 10: 45, 3, 34, 4, 17, 47, 5, 43, 14, 42

Comments: Tyler Reddick has won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas, his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 34 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 8 for 17 laps;
Laps: 3-5 (No. 6, 17, 38, 77, 84 Incident Turns 19 and 20 [None]);
13-15 (No. 5, 11 Incident Frontstretch [None]);
42-43 (Debris Turn 9 [12]);
58-59 (No. 6 Stopped Turn 7 [7]);
61-61 (No. 1 Stopped Turn 1 [7]);
66-67 (Debris From No. 3 [None]);
69-70 (Debris From No. 12 [5]);
72-73 (Debris From No. 99 [5]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers;
W. Byron 1-5;
A. Cindric 6-7;
T. Reddick 8-12;
W. Byron 13-23;
T. Reddick 24-31;
C. Buescher 32;
W. Byron 33-38;
T. Reddick 39-41;
W. Byron 42;
J. Logano 43;
W. Byron 44-46;
T. Reddick 47-57;
D. Suarez 58;
C. Bell 59;
T. Reddick 60-61;
W. Byron 62-63;
T. Reddick 64-75.

Unofficial Points: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Circuit of The Americas
Pos      Driver  Car      Starts  GL        Points  Ldr       Nxt      Race Wins       Stage Wins     Playoff Pts
1) Ross Chastain          1          6          2          211      0          0          0          3          3
2) Kyle Busch  8          6          5          192      -19       19        1          0          5
3) Joey Logano            22        6          -2         186      -25       6          1          1          6
4) Kevin Harvick          4          6          2          186      -25       0          0          0          0
5) Christopher Bell      20        6          -3         184      -27       2          0          0          0
6) Ryan Blaney            12        6          -2         177      -34       7          0          0          0
7) Austin Cindric         2          6          4          166      -45       11        0          1          1
8) Martin Truex Jr       19        6          0          165      -46       1          0          0          0
9) Brad Keselowski     6          6          -4         162      -49       3          0          1          1
10) Tyler Reddick        45        6          5          161      -50       1          1          1          6
11) Denny Hamlin       11        6          -2         161      -50       0          0          0          0
12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr            47        6          0          159      -52       2          1          0          5
13) Chris Buescher      17        6          0          157      -54       2          0          0          0
14) Daniel Suarez        99        6          -4         144      -67       13        0          0          0
15) Corey LaJoie          7          6          -1         139      -72       5          0          0          0
16) Alex Bowman        48        6          4          126      -85       13        0          0          -10
17) Michael McDowell            34        6          1          125      -86       1          0          0          0
18) Ty Gibbs # 54        6          1          118      -93       7          0          0          0
19) Bubba Wallace      23        6          -3         103      -108     15        0          0          0
20) AJ Allmendinger   16        6          -3         103      -108     0          0          0          0
21) Erik Jones  43        6          0          99        -112     4          0          0          0
22) William Byron       24        6          6          97        -114     2          2          4          4
23) Chase Briscoe       14        6          0          96        -115     1          0          0          0
24) Todd Gilliland       38        6          1          95        -116     1          0          0          0
25) Austin Dillon         3          6          -3         93        -118     2          0          0          0
26) Noah Gragson #    42        6          -2         86        -125     7          0          0          0
27) Kyle Larson           5          6          5          70        -141     16        0          1          -9
28) Aric Almirola         10        6          -1         70        -141     0          0          0          0
29) Ryan Preece          41        6          -3         69        -142     1          0          0          0
30) Harrison Burton    21        6          -1         66        -145     3          0          0          0
31) Cody Ware            51        6          -1         62        -149     4          0          0          0
32) Chase Elliott                      2          -1         49        -162     13        0          0          0
33) Ty Dillon    77        6          0          32        -179     17        0          0          0
34) Bj Mcleod              5          0          27        -184     5          0          0          0
35) Travis Pastrana                 1          0          26        -185     1          0          0          0
36) Jenson Button       15        1          0          19        -192     7          0          0          0
37) Jordan Taylor        9          1          0          16        -195     3          0          0          0
38) * Jimmie Johnson 84        2          -2         11        -200     5          0          0          0
39) * Kimi Raikkonen  91        1          0          8          -203     3          0          0          0
40) * Conor Daly         50        2          1          1          -210     7          0          0          0
41) Josh Berry(i)                      3          -4         0          -211     1          0          0          0
42) Riley Herbst                      1          -4         0          -211     0          0          0          0
43) Zane Smith(i)                    2          -4         0          -211     0          0          0          0
44) Jj Yeley(i)               3          -4         0          -211     0          0          0          0
45) Josh Bilicki(i)         78        1          3          0          -211     0          0          0          0
46) Austin Hill             0          -4         0          -211     0          0          0          0
47) Chandler Smith                 0          -4         0          -211     0          0          0          0
48) Justin Haley          31        6          -4         -7         -218     7          0          0          -10
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series