Tyler Reddick wins strongly at COTA

Reddick was able to thwart all the pitfalls of the road race contested on the COTA in Austin to win after 3 overtimes.

Published on 27/03/2023 à 01:55

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Tyler Reddick gives 23XI Racing a great victory © NASCAR

Tyler Reddick wins after 3h30 of racing ahead of Kyle Busch who has had a fantastic start to the season with Richard Childress Racing and William Byron.

Jimmie Johnson will not keep lasting memories of this participation in COTA since he was excluded from the race from the 2^rd round. A round to forget and the hope of doing much better during his next two appearances in town in Chicago and on the Monster Mile in Dover, his favorite track.

Jimmie Johnson still has to wait for an 84th victory © NASCAR

Bubba Wallace distinguished himself a little later by running aground on Kyle Larson. The 23XI Racing driver simply seems to have forgotten to brake and admitted to the press that in his boss's place he would fire immediately... William Byron kept a cool head and a heavy foot to conclude the first segment in the lead.

An incident occurred between the No. 23 and the No. 5. pic.twitter.com/KyQbQiIV2X

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 26, 2023

The second section was more fluid, and after the first phase of pit stops under green flag, Tyler Reddick in a staggered strategy took the lead and opened up a small lead over Austin Dillon to win.

On the 40th lap the race was neutralized for a short track cleaning session. Track limits are a very vague concept in NASCAR and the track became impassable as dirt was thrown. The race was restarted and we found William Byron and Tyler Reddick, the two strong men of the event, in the lead, ahead of Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman. Kyle Larson then lost 2 laps due to a broken left rear suspension. Bad luck does not seem to want to let go of the Hendrick driver who has been in total bad luck since the start of the season.

With 15 laps to go, Brad Keselowski made yet another mistake and remained on the grass, causing the yellow flag to come out. Kimi Raïkkönen skipped a pit stop and found himself in 4th position on the restart. Chastain was taken out at the first corner and remained immobilized on the track, causing another neutralization.

Reddick restarted the race for 7 laps, a new opportunity to see up to 8 cars abreast when braking for the first corner! He was surprised by Byron who took the lead. The two men widened the gap on their pursuers and could begin a fierce fight for victory which would have deserved a draw. But you need a winner and Austin Dillon was responsible for creating a little suspense by puncturing and causing a final neutralization.

At the restart, Kyle Busch surprised William Byron to take second place behind Reddick but everything had to be done again since Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece sowed debris on the track leading to a second overtime, which called for a third! Already 4 out of 6 races this season ending under overtime... the big fashion of the 2023 season.

This third extra time was the right one and Tyler resisted the attacks of Kyle Busch and William Byron to win.

Burn it down @TylerReddick! 🔥💨 pic.twitter.com/LV8Rxq2EZe

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 26, 2023

And our Road Ringers, luxury temporary workers specializing in road racing? Great leader at the start of the race, Jordan Taylor, who started from 4th place after an exceptional qualification, returned to the ranks to finish 24th. Jenson Button led a wise and fairly anonymous race but ultimately took a very good 18th place. Kimi Raïkkönen blew hot and cold, navigating between the back of the pack and the front to finish 29th.