March 26, 2023 | By Lee Spencer

Tyler Reddick rules at Circuit of The Americas

Tyler Reddick continued to prove he’s NASCAR’s new King of the Road.

In just his sixth start since joining 23XI Racing, the 27-year-old driver from Corning, Calif., delivered Toyota its first Cup win of 2023.

Reddick masterfully held off the field through three attempts at overtime to win at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday—his third road course win in the last 25 races.

“It means the world,” Reddick said. “This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better. Was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too.”

Kyle Busch crossed the finish line 1.411 seconds behind Reddick. Alex Bowman, defending race winner Ross Chastain and polesitter William Byron rounded out the top five.

The field didn’t complete the first lap before the Roush Fenway Keselowski cars spun in turns 19 and 20. Brad Keselowski reported he “bottomed out” before going around. Along with Keselowski and Chris Buescher, Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon and Jimmie Johnson were collected in the melee. Neither Dillon nor Johnson was able to continue.

The race restarted on Lap 5 with Byron in control as NASCAR began dolling out penalties for cutting the esses. Joey Logano was busted first followed Denny Hamlin. Chase Briscoe went for a spin on Lap 7. After contact with Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson went around. Larson gathered up his car, but before he could reach pit road, Hamlin clobbered the No. 5 Chevy and took out Wallace in the process. Larson stalled on the track to trigger the second caution on Lap 12.

Reddick pitted under caution, handing the lead over to Byron. In the first race sans stage breaks since NASCAR introduced the format in 2017, Byron won the first segment with Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Bowman, Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Busch, Jordan Taylor, Christopher Bell and Ryan Preece in tow on Lap 15.

Keselowski spun again on Lap 18. Ryan Blaney pitted after contact with Larson. Kyle Busch pitted from seventh place on Lap 20. Bell, Truex and Taylor come on the next lap. Byron pitted from the lead on Lap 24 and Reddick returned to the point. The No. 45 led the next eight laps and won Stage 2 during his run. Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Larson, Erik Jones, Briscoe and Noah Gragson received stage points after Lap 30.

Ty Gibbs was penalized for short-cutting the esses on Lap 31. Larson’s problems continued as he was busted for speeding on pit road. On Lap 32, Reddick pitted along with Austin Dillon, McDowell and Stenhouse. Byron regained the lead on Lap 33 and Reddick cycled out to fifth on lap later. With each circuit, Reddick closed in on Byron. Bell spun on Lap 38 and Reddick passed Byron one lap later.

Hamlin lent his name to the spin cycle list on Lap 40. Two circuits later, NASCAR called the third caution for debris (dirt) in Turn 9. The leaders pitted on Lap 43. Logano and Harrison Burton opted for fuel only and lined up ahead of Reddick and Byron. Although Byron grabbed the lead on the Lap 44 restart, Reddick out-braked the No. 24 in Turn 12 to retake the lead three laps later.

But then the yellow flags kept coming. The action slowed on Lap 58 as Keselowski stalled in Turn 7. The top six drivers pitted while Bell, Busch, Hamlin and Kimi Raikkonen stayed out.

“I don’t know if we could have (passed Reddick), even if we were on equal tires,” said Busch who last pitted on Lap 43. “When we tested here, they were lights out. We had speed on the front side of the runs. We needed longer runs. But even today for some reason we didn’t have really great long-run speed. We had good middle-run speed.”

But Reddick reigned supreme on short runs. He was the first car off of pit road and regained the lead. Chastain, who had issues on his pit stop came to a halt in Turn 1 to trigger Caution 5. Suarez tagged Busch battling for position on the restart and the No. 8 Chevy claimed second. Reddick missed Turn 1 on the Lap 61 restart and Byron moved to the point. The Nos. 24 and 45 duked it out with Reddick claiming the point two laps later.

Debris from Austin Dillon’s car sent the race into overtime with Reddick in the lead on Lap 68 restart. Blaney ignited the seventh caution after he was punted entering the first turn. Reddick, who didn’t feel he hit his marks in Turn 1, radioed the crew asking for suggestions. They told him he needed a better angle on entry. Reddick did just that.

When the race restarted Busch and Bowman traded paint and allowed Reddick to pull away. Despite an eighth and final caution for debris off of Suarez’s car, Reddick extended his lead by 1.6 seconds coming to the white flag and held on for his fourth career win—and the fourth for 23XI.

Reddick, who started the race second, was one of several drivers to go the distance with a malfunctioning cool suit on what was the hottest race day so far this season. The irritant wasn’t enough to slow the driver down.

“Just so proud of this Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. Toyota, everybody, all the resources they've been putting into this to help turn around the road course program means a lot,” Reddick added. “I'm out of gas. But I feel a little bit better with Monster Energy.”

Cindric finished sixth followed by Stenhouse, Buescher, Gibbs and McDowell. Chastain regained the points lead by 19 Busch.