By Roy J. Akers –www.skyviewsports.net
NASCAR is splitting it’s three major series with IndyCar the next two race weekends. SVG wins another roadcoarse race in St. Pete, and will have the chance to do it again at COTA. Several drivers are mentioned as winners if he is not the victor. Christopher Bell is the defending winner of this event. Several other drivers could make a run from Tyler Reddick to Bubba Wallace. Would Reddick make NASCAR history by winning three in a row?
Time to drop the green flag?
Dropping the Green Flag – Laps 1-20
Tyler Reddick leads the field to green, and with strong finishes on road courses in addition to winning the first two races of the season, the #45 is in position to win three in a row. Tire falloff is of the issue at COTA and Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Ross Chastain quickly put Reddick in fourth six laps into the race. Ryan Blaney takes the lead from Reddick on lap nine with Reddick slipping to 9th. Just 11 laps latter, Ross Chastain is your leader with SVG 2nd and Michael McDowell third with three leaders in the Stage.
Stage two 21-50 Top 8 After S2
Teams elect to pit between the Stages and tire degredation is on the minds of the teams. Reddick is the winner of the fourwide restart. William Byron has climbed to third. At lap 35 of 95, Tyler Reddick leads the field under green flag conditions. The race has seen six lead changes among five different drivers, with one caution period consuming three laps. Reddick, who started from the pole in his No. 45 Toyota, currently holds a 0.437-second advantage over Ryan Blaney.
Reddick has led 12 laps so far and posted his best lap time of 100.518 seconds on lap 27. He’s spent 21 laps running in the top five and 31 laps in the top 10. Of those that pitted between the Stages, SVG is the only driver in the Top-10. Five drivers have led in the race paced by the #45. Reddick gives up the lead with three to go to have achance for the race win. Ty Gibbs is a surprise at P4. Blaney is the leader before pitting with SVG and Byron 2-3.
High Banked Fury Zoomcasts and story below Mike Joy/Cleetus (L) Hocevar (R)
Final – Laps 50 to Finish
All but nine drivers pitted before the end of the Stage to give themselves a chance to win the race. Gibbs is still the leader after the field visits pit row. The green flag drops on lap 55 with Gibbs and Blaney bringing the field to green. Reddick takes the lead with Blaney and Briscoe trailing. Connor Zillisch, after running in the back most of the day, is now 7th. Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell trade paint for several laps. Final green flag pit stops start on lap 67 with Bell going in. With under 30 to go, the fastest machines on the track are Zillisch, and Reddick.
With 27 to go, Reddick and Blaney both pit and SVG is your new leader until he pits two laps later. Byron, McDowell and Chastain are 1-2-3 with 25 to go. Chastain loses his wheel with 21 to go brining the first caution for cause of the race. In addition, Alex Bowman has been ill all day and finally pulled into the garage and swapped with a spotter for a Fox Sports crew member. With 17 laps to go, Reddick, holds off Blaney, but SVG goes around Blaney for 2nd. Reddick continues to lead with SVG .57 behind and Bell closing fast. Bell levels off in the final laps and SVG radioed his crew that tire traction and handling have went away. Reddick extends his lead to nearly four seconds and wins at COTA.
Taking the Checkered Flag Final Results
Reddick powers the 45 to the victory leading 58 laps during the race. He made no mistakes and the race was his through superior driving and SVG’s car going away. Reddick is the only driver to win twice at the racetrack. Like Michael Jordan, now Reddick has a three-peat. TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Chumba Casino Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What does it mean to you to make history winning three races in-a-row to start the season?
“It means the world. Yeah, it’s so fitting. We get going at the end there and I’m leading and there’s SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen), the guy I’ve been trying to beat for a while now. Just to be able to out last him there and hold on for the win is just incredible. Just really proud of this Chumba Casino Toyota Camry, everyone at 23XI. We worked really hard. We did not like getting beat like that at road courses. It’s one race, but it was so important, so fitting that we were able to get three in-a-row and make history.”
Factoids that may interest only me
Tyler Reddick is trying to win his third straight race. In fact, his win is the first time in NASCAR history a driver has started the season off with three straight wins.
SVG is trying to win his 6th straight road course race. What gives? SVG sees his streak end at six.
Both JGR and Hendrick Motorsports put three drivers in the top-10 for the first time this season.
They Said It… Chase Briscoe
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Columbia Bank Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing – Finishing Position: 37th
What did you feel and what put you out of the race?
“Something in the transaxle, I guess, broke coming out of the corner. Went to shift and it was like I was in neutral and it was trying to spin the one side and not the other. It’s really unfortunate, felt like we were good enough to win truthfully, top five car pretty easily. Just frustrating, it will obviously set us back points wise and next week. But Phoenix has been a really good track for us so we will see what we can do. Thanks to Columbia Bank and Toyota for all the support this weekend.”
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Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – Finished: 2nd
What else did you need today?
“Just a little bit of everything. We lacked a little bit of turn and a little bit of drive. Tyler (Reddick, race winner) was just amazing. The way he was driving was really good and his car was good. We just didn’t quite have enough, but it was a great points day for this No. 97 Safety Culture Chevrolet team, which is what we need for getting into the Chase. It was still an amazing result, but you’re always disappointed with second when the expectations are so high. But overall, it was a really good day.”
Tale of the Tape
Fantasy
Reddick, Chastain, and Elliott are all very good at Reddick and were in the Top ten for two or more stages. SVG is SVG. Bell is the defending champion and Connor Zilisch is another road course dynamo. Who did I leave off? 2024 Champion William Byron. Will I regret this? Who knows.
Well, 206 points is not bad. 186 plus 20 for the matchups went well. After Echo Park where our lineup was solid until late race wrecks took out most of my points. We should pick up points against other players.
Best Pick: Reddick- He won . Next Best pick. We finished second as well with SVG.
Worst Pick: Ross Chastain finished with 13 points after a broken wheel put him multiple laps down after running up front all day.
