Tyler Reddick wins at Texas
Tyler Reddick won his third NASCAR Cup race of the season Sundaya t Texas Motor Speedway. (HHP/Tim Parks)
NASCAR Cup Series

Tyler Reddick Wins Texas Cup Race Marred By Tire Failures

September 25, 2022

In a race slowed by a track record 16 cautions, largely due to tire failures, Tyler Reddick survived to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway for his third victory of the season.

Reddick led the final 53 of the last 54 laps around the 1.5-mile track to become the fourth non-playoff driver to win in the first four races of the NASCAR Cup playoffs. He won over Joey Logano.

Three times during the race the leader – Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick – crashed a result of a rear tire failure. The Richard Childress Racing driver avoided that fate during the last 24 laps run under green.

“I was extremely worried, I’m not going to lie,” Reddick told NBC Sports. “Unfortunately, just about every time we’ve had fast cars, we’ve had some tire problems. Yeah, that last run the right sides were vibrating really, really hard there. I was just trying to maximize and use the gap that I built over Joey just in case. I mean, every time we’ve had a strong car, we’ve been bit by something, man.”

After being eliminated from the playoffs after last weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Reddick followed Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace and Cris Buescher as a non-playoff driver going to victory lane.

25 SEPTEMBER 2022 During the AUTOTRADER ECHO PARK 500 at TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY in FORT WORTH, TX (HHP/Tim Parks)
Tyler Reddick celebrates his win at Texas Motor Speedway. (HHP/Tim Parks)

“You know that every every spot matters in this deal,” Reddick said. “And you know, we just had two tough races. We brought a really fast car Darlington and we were leading Kansas when we broke and fell out early and so it’s just tough, but this will make the pain of not making it through a little bit easier.”

Reddick’s history this season with tire failures while leading resulted in the No. 8 RCR team going into Texas being a “little conservative” in its tire setup, according to crew chief Randall Burnett.

“We got bit at Kansas the other week with one, I think we’ve had four tires go down this year while leading the race,” Burnett said. “(Team owner Richard Childress) talked to me about it and said, ‘Make sure you keep some air in the tires today.’ I tried to do that. A little bit more conservative approach this week. It’s a fine line. Everybody knows the speed, pushing the limits of the tires.

“With the low sidewalls, they’re not as forgiving as the 15-inch wheel stuff we had before. It’s a lot finer line, I think.”

Said Childress: “There’s a fine line to push that limit. It wasn’t the tire as much as it is trying to be as competitive as you can.”

Goodyear Racing official Greg Stucker addressed the media after the race. He said Sunday’s problems were “not dissimilar” to what the series saw in the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“We’re gaining as much information as we can from the teams,” Stucker said. “Trying to understand where they are with their settings: air pressures, cambor, suspension …. For sure, I can say without a doubt air pressure is playing into it. We know where a lot of guys are, some more aggressive than others.

“We know that plays a part, I’m not saying that’s the only thing, but it’s certainly a factor.”

Logano’s runner-up finish gives him nine top fives for the year. He led 6 times for 15 laps, but was never able to mount a real charge at Reddick over the last run.

The Team Penske driver had a right-rear vibration during the last run that was “Very, very concerning.”

“It’s always concerning when you’re going 200 miles an hour and you can’t see,” Logano said. “Kind of bittersweet moment. On one side, I’m kind of frustrated it was like that, had a shot to beat the 8. On the other hand, I’m happy to finish the race and get a bunch of points with the AAA Mustang and have something for them going into the next few races.

“We knew what we had to do. We had to score a bunch of points. And we did that, put ourselves in the points lead. It’s still not comforting, but better than being further back. So let’s figure out how we want to run Talladega now.”

Following Logano in second was Justin Haley in third place, matching his best NASCAR Cup finish on a non-superspeedway track. The top five was completed by Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe.

The top 10 was completed by Jones, William Byron, pole-sitter Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.

Click here for the NASCAR Cup at Texas race results.

Click here for the NASCAR Cup driver points after Texas.

 

The race was run in four hours and 21 minutes, but the day also included a nearly one hour delay for rain and lighting in the area. 

The first caution came on Lap 40 when Martin Truex Jr. got loose in Turn 4, backed into the outside wall and slid into the frontstretch grass. 

During the resulting pit stops, Byron took the lead off pit road. He got out ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Elliott and Kyle Busch. Keselowski’s day took a hit as he was caught speeding, sending him to the back of the pack.

On the Lap 45 restart, Logano led the first lap under green before Byron pulled ahead for the lead.

Five laps later another Toyota, this time Busch, got into trouble. Busch’s No. 18 car snapped loose and hit the outside wall backwards. The damage was enough to send Busch to the garage and end his day. It’s Busch’s third DNF in the last four races and it’s his first DNF in 32 career Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I was just getting closer to the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and I knew if I tracked him, followed him in the lower groove, I would lose ground,” Busch said. “So I went to the high groove where I was making time in the spray and the sticky stuff, but it is not so sticky apparently. I crashed. I’m trying to go, trying to race. Banana peels out there for me. Too many conditions that you’ve got to be around or go around or figure out or be smarter about. I guess I wasn’t very smart.”

The third caution quickly followed that one when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with the outside of Ty Dillon’s car on the frontstretch and sent Stenhouse’s No. 47 car sliding through the grass.

On the ensuing restart Byron would take the lead as Logano dropped to fifth.

Misfortune struck Joe Gibbs Racing again on Lap 79 when Christopher Bell’s right-rear tire failed entering Turn 1, helping bring out yet another caution. Moments laters Cole Custer’s No. 41 car got loose in Turn 2 and shot up the track and into the wall. It appeared to also be a result of a tire failure.

After the next restart, Denny Hamlin took the lead for the first time on Lap 87 when Byron had to get out of the gas exiting Turn 2, allowing Hamlin to race by.

Two laps later, Reddick got to Hamlin’s inside but couldn’t complete the pass. That allowed Larson to come into the picture and get by each of them for the lead.

The caution returned with eight laps to go in the stage when playoff driver Alex Bowman got loose and slammed into the Turn 4 wall.

 

Under the caution, Larson, Hamlin and Byron were among those that stayed out of the pits while drivers like Elliott, Blaney, Briscoe and more visited pit road.

The stage ended in a three-lap dash to the finish, as Larson held on for the stage win over Hamlin, but not after they made contact with each exiting Turn 2 on the last lap. Hamlin got to the inside of Larson, who didn’t exited as high as he could have. Hamlin got into Larson’s left rear, a puff of smoke created from the contact.

The top 10 after Stage 1: Larson, Hamlin, Logano, Suarez, Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Cindric and McDowell.

On pit road, Keselowski took two tires and got out ahead of Hamlin and the rest of the leaders who hadn’t pit under the previous caution. Meanwhile, Stenhouse, who last pit on Lap 57,  started Stage 2 in first ahead of McDowell, Harvick, Burton and Elliott.

Stenhouse kept the lead on the restart and Reddick quickly moved up to second. But on Lap 117 Reddick was forced to pit for a vibration. That left Stenhouse leading over Burton, Elliott, Jones and Truex.

Stenhouse would hold on until Lap 124 when Burton finally got by him in Turns 1 and 2.

Bell, who had a tire problem earlier in the race, had made it up to seventh early in Stage 2. However, Bell’s bad luck continued when he got loose and backed into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 138. Bell’s team wouldn’t be able to repair the car before the Damaged Vehicle Clock’s 10 minute limit expired, giving Bell his first DNF of the playoffs after he finished in the top five in the first three races.

“Just the second right rear blown of the day – that was disappointing. I’m in a pretty bad spot now,” Bell said. “To have two right rears go in the first half of the race is very strange. I don’t know. It’s a very disappointing day. We are probably going to be in a deep hole now.”

In the pits, Burton lost the lead when a slow pit stop turned into a fire hazard. Sparks struck in the fueling area, creating a large flame at the back of Burton’s No. 21 car. It was eventually put out and Burton’s stop was completed. Burton went from leading 15 laps to being one lap down.

Meanwhile, Burton was first out of the pits, beating Chastain, Jones, Wallace and Truex.

Elliott kept the lead on the ensuing restart over Chastain.

The next caution, on Lap 169, was a result of the hardest and scariest crash of the race. Cody Ware’s No. 51 car snapped loose in Turn 4 and went straight into the outside wall. The impact lifted the back of Ware’s car into the air briefly. The car then streaked down pit road, where it almost hit an opening in the pit wall head-on before coming to a stop.

When the safety team reached Ware, he slowly climbed out of the car with help. He then appeared to fall over on the other side of the pit wall.

Ware was put on a stretcher, placed into an ambulance and taken to the infield care center. He was eventually treated and released from the care center. NBC Sports reported Ware was experiencing discomfort in his left ankle.

NASCAR had to make repairs to the SAFER barrier in Turn 4 as a result of Ware’s impact.

Elliott held the lead over Blaney on the next restart, as Larson had to restart from the back after pitting twice.

However, disaster struck Elliott when his No. 9 car snapped loose at the exit of Turn 4 and slammed the wall. Elliott managed to get his car across the track and into the grass as fire licked out from underneath it. Elliott exited the car under his own power. Elliott, who didn’t collect any stage points before the wreck, finished 32nd.

“I’m not sure that Goodyear is at fault,” Elliott said. “Goodyear always takes the black eye, but they’re put in a really tough position by NASCAR to build a tire that can survive these types of racetracks with this car. I wouldn’t blame Goodyear.”

Caution No. 10 came on Lap 198, when Bristol winner Chris Buescher spun on the frontstretch right before the start-finish line. Buescher attributed it to dirty air coming off the No. 22 of Logano right in front of him. Buescher was able to keep his No. 17 Ford from hitting anything and continued.

Under the caution, Blaney led over Byron, Chastain, Suarez and Austin Dillon. Blaney would wind up winning Stage 2 over Chastain, Byron, Keselowski and Suarez.

The race off pit road was won by Larson, who didn’t take tires. Logano was second with two. Keselowski was third ahead of Chastain and Byron. But 12 cars, led by Michael McDowell, Jones and Burton had stayed out. Working against McDowell was that he had lost fourth gear.

Blaney had an extended pit stop as his team had to put in more fuel than everyone else.

The caution period was extended due to rain in the area. The field was then brought to pit road with 114 laps to go and the red flag was put out. The race was also placed under a lightning hold for a strike within eight miles of the track. The hold was lifted at 7:34 p.m. ET.

The race went back to green with 111 laps to go at 7:48 p.m. ET.

McDowell kept the lead, but not after he pinched Jones into the outside wall exiting Turn 2 with 110 laps to go. Reddick would take second from Jones two laps later entering Turn 1 and he’d get by McDowell for the lead exiting Turn 2.

The race’s 12th caution occurred on Lap 243 when Buescher slammed the Turn 4 wall while he was running in third. The culprit: a failed right-rear tire.

Larson was first off pit road after taking two tires, He got out ahead of Reddick, Haley, Gragson and Keselowski.

However, 10 cars, led by Harvick and Truex stayed out and led the field to green with 87 laps to go.

Harvick became the next driver to fall victim to a failed right-rear tire as he entered Turn 3 with 82 laps to go and his No. 4 Ford snapped loose and backed into the Turn 4 wall while he led.

That gave the lead to Truex over Byron, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Hamlin. The race resumed with 76 laps to go.

Truex became the next leader to crash from a tire failure with 67 laps to go, wrecking as he entered Turn 3.

Sept 25, 2022. Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Race Texas Motor Speedway. (HHP/David Graham)
Martin Truex Jr. after his first spin in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
(HHP/David Graham)

“I blew a tire. Simple as that. I guess the same thing as everybody else has been having,” Truex said. “Man, I’m ready for this year to be over. … Really strong car. Went to the back and passed a lot of cars today. Spun out in the first stage and I was like ‘okay, what was that all about.’ Good car couldn’t do too much with it. Just kept going to the back and as soon as we got track position the unthinkable happens. It’s a shame. It’s a crazy day for sure – a lot of blown tires.”

Just after the caution came out, Byron spun Hamlin on the frontstretch in apparent retaliation for when they made contact while exiting Turn 2 on the restart. Hamlin told his crew they never touch each other. Despite that, Hamlin took it upon himself to harass Byron under caution.

 “Obviously, yeah, I went to go show my displeasure,” Byron said. “I didn’t mean to hit him and spin him out. There’s a ton of guys that do this and go do something like that. I see it all the time.

“Yeah, I’m just not going to get run like that. Yeah, there’s really no reason. We’re running second and third I think. Had a shot to win. Killed our car, for sure. That was a bummer.”

From his perspective, Hamlin didn’t believe he ever touched Byron on the restart, which added to his displeasure.

“I guess we can just wreck each other under caution. I tried to wreck him back,” Hamlin said. “Yeah, I don’t think we touched. I got to look. I don’t think we touched. Obviously he sent us into the infield under caution.”

Following his multiple run-ins with Ross Chastain earlier this year, it’s yet another episode between Hamlin and a younger driver.

“I keep hearing these guys (make excuses). I’ll just add it to the list of guys when I get a chance. They’re going to get it,” Hamlin said. “It all just works itself out. We’ll be racing each other at some point. He’ll lose a lot of spots because he’s racing me. This is hard racing, obviously. I’m fine with hard racing.

“But wrecking me under caution is obviously not what we were bargaining for.”

 

After the race, NASCAR competition official Scott Miller said that the incident between Hamlin and Byron on the frontstretch was missed by those who were in the scoring tower. Miller said their attention was preoccupied with Truex’s accident and that NASCAR would review it for potential penalties.

Under the caution, Reddick took two tires and was first off pit road. He was followed by Chastain (no tires), Logano (two tires, final sticker tires), Haley (two tires), Suarez (two tires), Cindric (two tires), Byron (no tires), Burton (two tires), McDowell (two tires) and Corey LaJoie (no tires).

On the restart, Stenhouse led over Gilliland, Reddick and Briscoe with 58 laps to go. Reddick would make it to second by 55 laps to go. A lap later he’d dive to Stenhouse’s inside to take the lead going into Turn 3.

With 36 laps to to, Stenhouse got loose exiting Turn 2 and backed into the outside wall. As he came down the track, Austin Cindric spun as he narrowly avoided him.