Tyler Reddick survived lap after lap of sloppy, ugly racing which caused a spate of  late-race cautions and went on to claim Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas in overtime.

The victory was the 23XI Racing driver’s first of the season and fourth of his career.

He led a race-beat 41 of 76 laps in what was scheduled to be a 68-lap race.

Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing came on late to finished second.

The margin of victory, was 1.14 seconds.

Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports was third.

Fourth was Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing while William Byron of Hendrick, who led 29 laps, was fifth.

Byron, who was runner-up at COTA last year, took the lead back on Lap 33 when Reddick pitted. Over the next six laps, Reddick charged back and on Lap 39, blew past Byron to get the lead back.

On Lap 40, NASCAR waved a yellow flag in order to clean dirt off the track in Turn 9. All but Joey Logano and Harrison pitted. Among the sitters, Reddick came out first, Byron second and Suarez third.

Byron shot past Logano for the lead on Turn 1 on the restart and Reddick fell in behind after overcooking the corner.

With 23 laps to go in the 68-lapper, Byron and Reddick began going door to door through the corners but with 22 to go, Reddick cleared for the lead. Both cars were in fuel trouble, with crew chiefs signaling them they were a lap short and ordering them to save.

Behind them were Chastain and Suarez whose crews believed they were good on fuel.

Fifth was Bowman who backed way off, hoping those ahead would run dry.

With 12 to go, Byron wiggled and Suarez and Chastain went past.

Shortly after that, Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel, pulled into the grass and out came the yellow. All but Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kimi Raikkonen and Ryan Preece. Right behind were Reddick and Byron.

Reddick moved to the lead in Turn 1 from the third row. But a wreck brought out another caution.

With seven to go, the race restarted. Reddick had the lead but was immediately passed by Byron and those two broke from the field.

With five to go, Reddick moved inside on Turn 11 and took the lead.

A lap later, Austin Dillon went up in smoke and out came a caution. That sent the race to an overtime finish.

Reddick and Byron restarted next to each other. Behind were Busch and Suarez. Reddick held the lead through the first turn with Busch moving in behind in second place.

From there, Reddick began to separate. And then, surprise, out came another caution for debris. On the restart, Reddick held off Busch and drove off – but yet another wreck stopped the race again.

On the third OT restart, Reddick and Bowman lined up in the front row, with Busch and Chastain behind. Once again Reddick came out of Turn 1 with the lead and Bowman behind. Reddick drove off, took the white flag before any more cautions were called and got the win.

Jimmie Johnson’s return to the track for his second event of the season lasted less than a lap as he was involved in a crash just after the green flag dropped. The seven-time Cup champion and IndyCar dabbler’s car was damaged beyond repair, as was that of Ty Dillon.

The field was splashed with road racing ringers. Among them were former Formula 1 world champions Raikkonen (finished 29th) and Jenson Button (18th), IMSA’s Jordan Taylor (24th), IndyCar’s Conor Daly (36th).

(This story will be updated shortly)

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NASCAR Cup Series Race – EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Circuit of The Americas

Austin, Texas

Sunday, March 26, 2023

1. (2)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 75.
2. (9)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 75.
3. (6)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 75.
4. (12)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 75.
5. (1)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 75.
6. (3)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 75.
7. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 75.
8. (32)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 75.
9. (17)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 75.
10. (36)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 75.
11. (27)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 75.
12. (20)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 75.
13. (29)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 75.
14. (13)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 75.
15. (19)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 75.
16. (21)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 75.
17. (25)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 75.
18. (24)  Jenson Button, Ford, 75.
19. (23)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 75.
20. (10)  Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 75.
21. (38)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 75.
22. (16)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 75.
23. (8)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 75.
24. (4)  Jordan Taylor, Chevrolet, 75.
25. (37)  Cody Ware, Ford, 75.
26. (33)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 75.
27. (5)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 75.
28. (15)  Joey Logano, Ford, 75.
29. (22)  Kimi Raikkonen, Chevrolet, 75.
30. (39)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 74.
31. (14)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 73.
32. (26)  Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 68.
33. (28)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
34. (7)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 60.
35. (30)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, Driveshaft, 56.
36. (35)  Conor Daly, Chevrolet, Transmission, 16.
37. (11)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 10.
38. (31)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, DVP, 0.
39. (34)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  72.886 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.411 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 17 laps.

Lead Changes:  16 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   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.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Tyler Reddick 6 times for 41 laps; William Byron 6 times for 28 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 2 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; Chris Buescher 1 time for 1 lap; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,2,16,48,1,99,8,9,20,41

Stage #2 Top Ten: 45,3,34,4,17,47,5,43,14,42

 

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