Tyler Reddick scored his first victory with the new 23XI Racing team by holding off multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.
Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and the first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth Cup Series victory, his third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing.
This might have been the most stressful.
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Tyler Reddick, center, celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
Reddick had to hold the front through the switchback flyover left that saw the field pile up and crush each other time and time again on restarts. The race had eight cautions over 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps beyond the scheduled distance.
«This entire 23XI team has been working very hard all winter to improve the road course program,» Reddick said. «I was extremely motivated to come here and show that performance as well.»
Kyle Busch, who has pushed Reddick through the last three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.
«When we tested here, they were off,» Busch said of the 23XI. «Obviously, Tyler is a very good road racer. He showed it by driving this car here last year. I was able to jump in and run to him. I’ve been trying to emulate the things he did to do this.» fast car last year, but not quite.
Tyler Reddick winds through turn 15 during a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
NASCAR SUSPENDS DRIVER JOSH WILLIAMS FOR PARKING A CAR AT THE START-FINISH LINE IN CHALLENGE OF ORDER
Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted after the race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez about the aggressive nature of the race. Suárez also exchanged words with Bowman.
«He just thought I drove and tried to drive through it,» Bowman said. «Daniel and I have been teammates in the past, we raced together for a long time. I respect him a lot. I’m sure he’s still not very happy. I just tried to explain to him that I wouldn’t race with him like that, that they pushed me there.» .
William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the best-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske.
There were no stage interruptions for the first time this season under a rule change introduced for all six road course races in 2023. That left teams to manage different pit stop strategies.
Tyler Reddick, center, celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series car race at the Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
Reddick seemed to have mastered the perfect strategy before the series of late collisions, caution flags and restarts left him with a more difficult path to victory.
The race included former Formula One champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button. Raikkonen drove Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 project that is designed to give drivers from other disciplines a seat in NASCAR. He finished 27th. Button drove the No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing as part of a three-race deal for road courses this season. He was 18 years old.
Raikkonen, was running as high as fourth on a late restart, but quickly fell back into the pack.
Another «road champ» on the track Sunday was sports car driver and four-time IMSA champion Jordan Taylor driving the No. 9 for the injured Chase Elliott, who is still recovering from a broken leg in a crash. snowboarding. Taylor battled early in early lap traffic and finished 24th.
CROSS APPEAL
Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks expects Project91 to run multiple times this season. Project91 only ran Watkins Glen with Raikkonen last season.
«It’s resonating with people, so we’ve got great sponsors on the car this weekend,» Marks said. «We’re definitely going to race this car a few times this year. We’re not ready to make any of those announcements yet, but people are taking notice.»
THE FUTURE OF COTA IN NASCAR
After three years of racing on the track built for Formula One, signs are pointing to a possible return of stock cars in 2024.
Speedway Motorsports, which hosts the event and rents the track for a week, has the option to return next season, and ticket holders have the opportunity to reserve spots for Austin.
«Of course I want to see NASCAR come back,» said track president Bobby Epstein. «The fans want them at COTA, the drivers tell us they love the track and the city…and it combines America’s leading race series with America’s premier road course.»
SNACKS
Race officials strictly enforced track limits at the circuit’s esss corners. Joey Logano was the first of several drivers to receive a drive-thru ticket. Ty Gibbs had to do it twice…Ty Dillon and seven-time former Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson were eliminated midway through the first lap when Brad Keselowski spun for the first caution before he the field will clear the first corner.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Denny Hamlin is the defending winner of the race.