Tyler Reddick enjoys a Cup win, Texas Motor Speedway style. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas – When Tyler Reddick reflects on Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, he may do so with a smile and a bit of bewilderment.
The path to his third NASCAR Cup Series victory and first on an oval was anything but ordinary as Avril Lavigne sang in 2002.
Indeed, it is a race that will still be talked about years in the future.
After being eliminated from title contention at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 26-year-old Corning, California native recalibrated his goal; focus on finishing fifth in points.
A surefire way to place fifth in the standings is winning multiple times in the next seven weeks.
If Reddick is tasked to answer the bell, more than likely, he will get the job done in efficient fashion.
While the task may seem straightforward, winning in the Cup Series is a tall mountain to climb, especially this year. However, Reddick had a rocket ship in the form of his No. 8 Lenovo/ThinkEdge Chevrolet Camaro prepared by Richard Childress Racing.
Reddick may have finished outside of the top 10 in Stages 1 and 2, but he made it count in the final going. (Photo: John Arndt | r/NASCAR)
Rolling off the starting grid from the fourth spot, Reddick fell back to 14th in Stage 1 and placed 16th in Stage 2.
However, as the case has been for races in the stage era since 2017, it was about finishing races on a high note.
Suffice to say, Reddick and crew chief Randall Burnett were aware of this along with various tire failures that affected a myriad of contenders.
Before Reddick made some noise in the late going, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Christopher Buescher encountered tire issues, leading to their individual, respective crashes.
Similarly, Cody Ware crashed hard on Lap 169, hitting the Turn 4 wall before impacting the pit road wall near Bowman’s No. 48 team’s pit stall. Ware exited out of his car with assistance from the AMR Safety Crew before making his way to the infield medical center.
In the case of Elliott’s Lap 184 crash, he did not mince words. All told, he did not place singular blame on Goodyear.
Elliott’s Round of 12 got a bit tougher with this crash at Texas. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
“They’re put in a tough position by NASCAR that can survive these kinds of racetracks with this car,” Elliott said. “Something came apart. If it wasn’t down, it was certainly coming apart.”
Beyond the tire failures, the 500-miler was also hampered by a lightning delay that lasted under an hour.
Once the race resumed, the race turned into a jinx for the leaders like Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., as both drivers crashed inside the final 85 laps of the race.
Truex was beyond himself about his accident.
“Blew a tire. I’m ready for this year to be over,” Truex said. “Really strong car. Went to the back, passed a lot of cars today. Good car, couldn’t do much with it. It’s a shame. Lots of blown tires.”
Greg Stucker, director of racing for Goodyear, chimed in about the tire failures and concerns with Sunday’s race at Texas. Undoubtedly, he offered a candid perspective in terms of refining the tire compound for Texas and similar tracks.
“We’ll do that anyway,” said Stucker. “We do that all the time to keep the ball moving and make changes as we needed to. This particular package was new at Kansas, specifically for racetracks like this. So, it’s a significant gain and longevity.
“And guys continue to push the envelope. But we’ll continue to work on it, no doubt.”
William Byron and Denny Hamlin engaged in some stock car paint trading with the former feeling the latter not leaving enough room in a battle for position near Turn 2.
William Byron’s seventh place finish at Texas wasn’t a pedestrian one. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
As the field approached the stripe for a caution period, Byron spun Hamlin out of his way, leaving the latter incensed.
With tempers flaring, the late Buddy Baker’s thoughts about the 1996 Dover fall race seemed appropriate for Sunday’s race, observing how the race needed to come to a close before more angst was unleashed.
On Lap 277, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. led the field in the race’s penultimate restart before Reddick retook the number one spot five laps later.
Stenhouse spun and hit the backstretch wall with 35 laps remaining, resulting in another heart stopping moment for a Playoff contender.
This time, Austin Cindric, in effort to avoid Stenhouse, spun on the backstretch before regaining control of his car.
Despite rallying to a 15th place result, Cindric was less than pleased about the topsy turvy race.
Austin Cindric showcased Team Penske speed but was displeased about the frustrating finish. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“I’m not happy in the slightest,” Cindric said. “We had a really, really fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Every opportunity we had to have track position got thrown away. So, I’m really disappointed.
“Today was going to be a really great day for us. Felt like we had enough speed to win the race. Passed a lot of cars, showed a lot of poise, just not a lot to show for. So I’m pretty upset.”
In terms of his crash avoidance induced spin, Cindric was a matter of fact about it.
“Well, I didn’t hit the wall,” he observed.
Cindric’s fellow Ford colleague, Aric Almirola, brought out the race’s final caution on Lap 307, spinning in Turn 2.
At last, with 24 laps to go, Reddick led the field during the race’s final restart. A frantic onslaught of track position battles ensued, namely with Kyle Larson, the defending Cup Series and race champion, climbing up to seventh.
Larson made an incredible save when his car went out of the racing groove in the final laps, dropping back to ninth, his finishing position for the race.
Meanwhile, Reddick delivered on one of the parameters with placing fifth in the points standings, winning Sunday’s race over Joey Logano by 1.19 seconds.
In spite of Reddick’s upcoming move to 23XI Racing in 2024, he is making the most out of his Richard Childress Racing ride while pleasing fans with free chicken tenders on Monday night.
Reddick was elated to drive into Jimmie Johnson Winner Circle at Texas. (Photo: John Arndt | /rNASCAR)
“Any time we can get that done, it’s a big deal,” Reddick said. “Going to a Cheddar’s on Monday night, it’s going to be popping for sure. There’s going to be a lot of free chicken tenders. Hopefully everyone is chowing down.”
More importantly, Reddick, who scored his third career Cup win, nabbed his first oval Cup win.
“To get it done on ovals, it is important,” he shared. “I didn’t know where it was going to come, but here was kind of a surprise. I didn’t know what our result was going to be today. We had a really strong car (even when) things weren’t going our way.”
For the fourth straight week, the Playoff Party Crashers’ Committee emerged triumphant. Given how unusual the race was at times, Reddick and his No. 8 team made all the right moves.
Smoke gets in your eyes. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“We were able to bounce back at the right times and strategy kind of fell the way that it did,” he remarked. “Our car was strong, so we were able to mix it up. It turned out we had the right strategy and were able to get at the front when it mattered, get to the lead and hold on from there.”
If Texas had drivers and teams holding on tight to their dreams, Talladega Superspeedway won’t be any easier (Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC). Bubba Wallace of Mobile, Alabama looks to score his third career Cup win and defend his YellaWood 500 win from last year.
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
Larson-Hamlin-Logano-Suárez-Chastain/Byron-Stenhouse Jr.-Keselowski-Cindric-McDowell
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Blaney-Chastain-Byron-Keselowski-Suárez/A. Dillon-Cindric-Logano-Truex Jr.-McDowell
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Top 10 Finishers
Reddick-Logano-Haley-Blaney-Briscoe/Jones-Byron-Keselowski-Larson-Hamlin
