(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden

Main Takeaway

Toyota and 23XI Racing went all-in on Tyler Reddick in 2022, scooping up the two-time Xfinity Series champion just after his breakthrough NASCAR Cup Series win at Road America in July. 

Eight months later – and 11 months sooner than initially planned – Reddick’s shown why he was worth the effort. 

Making just his sixth start for the Toyota team, the rising star co-owner Denny Hamlin called a “franchise driver” upon his signing delivered the sort of quality drive you expect from a team leader. Reddick was the clear class of the field at Circuit of the Americas, battling with pole-sitter William Byron and looking untouchable through three overtimes for a statement victory in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. 

The win was Reddick’s fourth at the Cup level. It came on a road course, where Toyota cars struggled in 2022, and made Reddick the first Toyota driver to lock up a potential playoff berth with a win. 

“It means the world,” Reddick said of the result. “This whole 23XI team has been working hard all winter long to make the road course program better and was extremely motivated to come in here and improve performance. Just so proud of this Monster Energy team and TRD. All the resources they’ve put in to turn around the road course program means a lot.”

Bringing home the victory wasn’t easy. Reddick had to withstand challenges from multiple drivers, including runner-up finisher Kyle Busch in his former car, to take the 1.411-second victory. But the Californian was unbeatable, overcoming mistakes and contact from others to surge to the point each time. 

Reddick’s win was a big moment for Hamlin, Toyota and 23XI Racing. Their collective decision to bring the 27-year-old into the fold has taken little time to bear fruit.

Conversely, it was a bittersweet result for both Busch brothers involved in Reddick’s offseason shift. 

For Kyle Busch, Reddick’s first win of 2023 came at the expense of his second. The Nevadan has already proven himself a capable contender in Reddick’s former No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, having won at Auto Club Speedway. But Busch saw ground to close compared to Reddick’s prior results on road courses. 

“I don’t know if we could have (beaten Tyler Reddick),” Busch said. “Even if we were on equal tires, when we tested here, they were lights out. Had us beat on the front side of the runs. We needed longer runs. Even today we didn’t have great long-run speed. We had great middle-run speed. Overall, for as much effort and everything that we’ve put into coming here and focusing on this place, all the testing and everything we’ve been able to do during the off-season, come out here with a really good finish.

“Tyler obviously is a really good road racer. He proved it driving this car here last year. I was able to get in it and run right back to him. I’ve been trying to emulate the things he did in order to make this car fast last year, but not quite all the way there. They had a whale of a car.”

While Reddick outdrove Kyle Busch for the win, an emotional Kurt Busch helped call the action for FOX Sports. 

He couldn’t be blamed for his emotions. After all, Kurt had no intention of being in the booth at this point in his career. At this time last year the elder Busch was driving that same No. 45 Toyota, kicking off a year that included a spring win at Kansas Speedway. 

The 2004 Cup champ hoped to lift 23XI Racing into a playoff contender and make a run at a second Cup title, but he was knocked out of the car by a concussion sustained in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway in July. Busch has yet to be cleared to return to competition, instead helping 23XI Racing where he can off-track while working to recover. 

It’s uncertain if he’ll ever make it back to the cockpit of a Cup Series car. For now the veteran is left to cheer on his teammates, having opted out of the No. 45 so 23XI could bring Reddick over a year early after RCR essentially gave his ride to Kyle Busch. 

That’s why Kurt was free for a guest commentary role in the FOX Sports booth, present and live on the air as he processed the joy and sadness of watching his car win with another driver. 

“It’s amazing, 23XI Racing. How fast we’re growing and how much we’re doing together,” Busch said, struggling to speak through his emotion. “It’s forward together on this program, and it (makes) me a little bit choked up. 

“I was hoping to back in that car. But it’s in good hands and it’s a great team. I love racing with those guys.” 

 

Good, Bad and Ugly

Good: Big name cameos

NASCAR’s third trip to Circuit of the Americas featured one of the most diverse grids the Cup Series has ever seen. Mixed in with the usual crop of contenders were two Formula 1 champions (Kimi Raikkonen and Jensen Button), a three-time IMSA champ (Jordan Taylor) and NTT IndyCar Series regular Conor Daly. 

Their weekends varied and none of the end results were particularly great, but watching each driver adapt to Cup competition was a treat for fans of global motorsport. 

Taylor showed arguably the most promise in the group, qualifying fourth to sneak onto the short list of potential contenders. But the replacement for Chase Elliott was missing one thing – aggression. He wound up feeling that he was “beat up” after suffering a battering during the myriad restarts. 

“Every restart, you just get smashed in the front, rear, side,” Taylor said after finishing 24th in his Cup debut. “So, yeah, it was pretty much just survival. The guys knew I’d be a little bit more hesitant, so they would take advantage of it. At the end, I got more aggressive and made our way almost back to the top 10. On the last restart, I don’t know who went down on the inside, but they were never going to make the corner and used us to stop themselves. I’d say it was a disappointing day.” 

Making his second Cup start, Raikkonen qualified in the midfield and spent most of the day battling just outside of the top-20. The timing of a late caution allowed the ‘Iceman’ to stay out as the leaders pitted and restart in fourth. But he wound up getting the worst of the multiple overtimes and fell back outside of the top-20 after a spin.

The Finn took the checkered flag in 27th, but was issued a 30-second time penalty for shortcutting the esses on the final lap, relegating him to 29th. Despite the end result, Raikkonen felt content with the effort overall. 

 “I think it wasn’t too bad,” he said. “We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those things, unfortunately. Then there were no tires left. They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think after the spin I had, the tires were just done. 

“It’s a shame because when we were there, but then we restart, and just wrong place, wrong time. It was a case of trying to stay out of the issues in the first corner and every time. It looked like you’d be very good, then three corners later, somebody’s going the wrong direction. There’s a bit of mess and luck involved.”

Daly was out of the running after just 16 laps, breaking a half-shaft on his No. 50 Chevrolet. The Hoosier came home 36th in his third Cup start for TMT Racing. 

The best finisher among the group was Button. Making his NASCAR debut, the 2009 F1 champ struggled early, but improved over the course of the race. Overtime gave Button a chance to improve his end result and he took advantage, rising to 18th as the checkered flag flew. 

It was a solid ending to a challenging day for Button, who plans to race again in July’s Chicago Street Race. 

“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Button said. “First, it was terrible. I mean, I must’ve been last by the end of it. And I was just like, ‘Everyone: Go. I just need to drive and find a rhythm.’ I’ve never gone through a corner too wide so often. And trying to place my car in the right place — I just got it wrong every time. Normally, if you’re a little bit slow through a corner, nobody tries to overtake you from the outside. Because they’re not going to make it all the way on the next one. But here they do, because they get a wheel inside for the next one, and if you turn in, you turn around. 

“The first stint was really bad — it was embarrassing for me. I was like, ‘All right guys, we need to pit, freshen the tires and I need some air – I need some fresh air.’ I got that. The pace was good, consistency was good. I was really happy — and passed a few cars, which was nice.

“We got a little bit unlucky with the safety car because it was just two laps before our window. Pitted, then the next stint was mayhem. We also made a couple of changes that just didn’t work. Big oversteer — went from the car feeling great to really difficult to drive. I also had a massive whack from Kimi (Räikkönen), and it fell off after that. The car wasn’t quite right. Every time I turned in, the rear tires would chatter, then immediately to oversteer.

“It was really difficult, but toward the end, we made some good calls stopping and putting on fresh tires. I enjoyed the last three restarts — got good placement and good overtaking moves from the outside.” 

 

Bad: Button struggles in the heat

Button’s biggest takeaway from Sunday’s race had little to do with the action surrounding him or the drivability of the car. 

Instead it was tied to the heat – the blistering, unbearable heat. 

NASCAR drivers have long voiced concern over the temperatures reached in the cockpit of their race cars. Throw in Texas sun and a challenging road course, and Button was left with a cockpit temperature that left him fighting heat exhaustion, concerned he wouldn’t make it to race’s end. 

“It was so hot, I thought I was going to faint in the car,” Button said. “So, I stopped twice for a minute. They put ice on me, gave me loads of water, and I went back out. 

“I was so close to getting out of the car because I thought I was going to faint. I must’ve drunk eight or nine bottles of water during the race. The team kept me calm, and it’s the reason why we got a good result in the end. So, I was happy.”

It’s good that Button was happy. But he and his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing team would do well to research how they can improve Button’s heat woes in the future. An early July race in the midst of Chicago probably isn’t going to be much, if any, easier temperature-wise than Sunday’s race in Texas. 

 

Ugly: Bubba bashes himself

A year that began with so much promise for Bubba Wallace has quickly gone awry.

Wallace entered the 2023 season off of the best statistical year of his Cup career. The 23XI Racing star had picked up a Kansas Speedway win and looked the part in an owner’s playoff run as a substitute for the injured Kurt Busch. 

That gave the No. 23 team high hopes rolling into the new season. But through six races Wallace has three DNFs, four finishes of 20th or worse and an average finish of 22.0. His lone bright spot’s been a fourth-place outing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

The 29 year old seemed destined to reverse the trends in Austin, qualifying 11th and rising into the top-10 early. But he suffered a broken toe link with contact and broke an oil line on Lap 11 of a scheduled 68. Wallace then slid through his oil, missed a corner and clattered into Kyle Larson and Erik Jones. 

Wallace’s day was done. He dropped out of the race in 37th. But the biggest damage may have came from outside of the car. Wallace took a clear hit to his pride and self-confidence, claiming he needed to be replaced.

“I’m, trying my hardest not to go down the slippery slope of self-doubt here,” he said. “Two weeks in a row, making rookie mistakes, six years into Cup.” 

If there’s any solace to Sunday’s result, it’s that Wallace saw the blueprint for a season turnaround from his teammate, Reddick. One win can turn the tide of a difficult year.

 

Good: All natural yellows…

How refreshing was it to watch a NASCAR race without guaranteed cautions?

NASCAR made the decision to forego stage breaks at road course races in 2023 after watching the strategies that typically occur at them be neutered by the stage format over the past six years. Points were still awarded, but the field rolled on under whatever track conditions were present at the time. 

There was risk associated with the move. Fans are no longer used to all-natural races. The race also could have gone green for lengthy spells and saw the field get strung out. 

But the first test of stage racing without actual breaks was an intriguing one… At least until a slate of late cautions threw the event into chaos. Reddick and Byron each led stretches of the event on alternating strategies, calling into question who would prevail. 

Will stage breaks ever disappear from ovals? Probably not. But if the remaining road course races prove equally enticing, NASCAR may have a winning formula on its hands. 

 

Bad: …But a lot of them

If NASCAR had thrown a caution for each restart pileup, I’m pretty sure the field would still be racing at COTA as I type this on Monday afternoon. 

The theme of lacking respect among competitors continued at the Texas track. Aided by the sharp left-hander in Turn 1, the field made increasingly desperate dives on each late restart. Contact was a given, even for frontrunners, leaving everyone on the track diving deep and hoping for the best. 

This issue isn’t exclusive to COTA. Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s tight opening turn caused similar trouble last summer. Drivers have proven capable of wrecking with their bold moves everywhere else, too. 

But somewhere around the first overtime, the continual clobbering of cars in the pack began to take what had been an intriguing race and turn it into a crapshoot. By the end of the race the checkered flag brought more reprieve than excitement. 

It didn’t ultimately affect the winner. But numerous drivers won or lost big based on their luck on each late restart, leaving some counting their blessings while others cursed the ridiculousness of it all. 

Jenson Button gave a good synopsis of his experience after his Cup debut. 

I’m not sure how anyone could police this contact moving forward. The very design of tracks like COTA, Indianapolis and others like Monza encourage contact and close-quarters racing. Aggressive moves and stop-at-nothing attitudes are a trademark of modern NASCAR racing, where winning is paramount to season-long success. Many fans love the chaos and drama. 

Late shakeups are a component of NASCAR. They aren’t going anywhere. It’s just a shame that they sometimes come at the expense of drivers who did everything right beforehand. 

 

Bad: No golden horseshoe

Jimmie Johnson returned for his second race of 2023 on Sunday, making his first NASCAR start at Circuit of the Americas. 

Unfortunately for Johnson, it proved to be a short day. 

The seven-time champ was trapped deep in the field at the start of the race, having qualified 31st. That left him at risk when early carnage arose. Johnson was collected in an incident involving Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon. Both he and Dillon were eliminated from the race with their damage. 

“What a disappointing finish,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we got off to a slow start yesterday and qualified poorly. We all know what happens when you start in the back and, unfortunately, we were caught up in that. Just a wild and crazy first lap that was taking place. 

“I thought I had the wreck missed, but I just saw a flash of red out of nowhere. I guess there was more going on the outside of the No. 6 car (Brad Keselowski) as it was spinning, and I saw him and just got collected.”

 

Ugly: Trouble at Trackhouse

Trackhouse Racing has been something of a fan favorite since its arrival in 2021. Little has gone wrong and perceptions of the organization have been positive. 

But the company has its first public inter-company squabble to sort out leaving COTA. 

Daniel Suarez was a top-five contender heading into the late stages of Sunday’s race. But he caught the worst of contact on a late restart that relegated him to 27th after shredding a tire. 

A clearly-frustrated Suarez sped through the cooldown lap after the race and bumped both his teammate Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman as the trio headed to pit road – an incident that should yield penalties. 

Suarez’s initial frustration was aimed at Bowman. But after some discussion he took the conversation to his teammate, Chastain. 

Kerfuffles between teammates are a tale as old as racing itself. Trackhouse was never going to be an exception to that. How the organization responds and addresses it internally will be critical to maintaining the positive culture it’s seemingly cultivated over the past two years. 

 

Notes

  • Add another thing to the “good” takeaways from the weekend: A successful road course debut for the new rules package meant for road courses and most short tracks. It wasn’t even a talking point during the race, a testament to how successful the product was. 
  • AJ Allmendinger poured on his 11th Xfinity Series road course win in Saturday’s race. It’s the most any driver’s managed in the tour – an impressive feat, even if it’s aided by the number of road course races held in the modern era. 
  • How about Zane Smith? For the second year in a row, Smith prevailed at Circuit of the Americas to keep Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 truck undefeated at the track. The defending series champ even fended off Kyle Busch to do it, winning by 5.4 seconds. 
  • Ty Gibbs only had one top-10 in his first 19 Cup starts. Now he’s managed two of them consecutively, finishing ninth at both Atlanta Motor Speedway and COTA. Not bad, rookie.
  • Just two spots behind Gibbs was Corey LaJoie, who continues to impress with Spire Motorsports. Six races into the 2023 season, LaJoie is on the positive side of the playoff cutline and proving to be good for more than one or two surprise runs. How long can they keep this run up?
  • Another driver snuck in a NASCAR start from another discipline on the weekend. IndyCar-turned-sports car competitor Ed Jones entered Saturday’s Truck Series race for Young’s Motorsports. Unfortunately for Jones, an opening lap suspension failure ended his run just as it began in 36th. 
  • How fun was it to have Haas F1 Team principal Guenther Steiner on the broadcast? 

Race Results

  1. Tyler Reddick
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Alex Bowman
  4. Ross Chastain
  5. William Byron
  6. Austin Cindric
  7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  8. Chris Buescher
  9. Ty Gibbs
  10. Todd Gilliland
  11. Corey LaJoie
  12. Michael McDowell
  13. Kevin Harvick
  14. Kyle Larson
  15. Chase Briscoe
  16. Denny Hamlin
  17. Martin Truex Jr.
  18. Jenson Button
  19. Justin Haley
  20. Noah Gragson
  21. Ryan Blaney
  22. Harrison Burton
  23. Erik Jones
  24. Jordan Taylor
  25. Cody Ware
  26. Josh Bilicki
  27. Daniel Suarez
  28. Joey Logano
  29. Kimi Raikkonen
  30. Aric Almirola
  31. Christopher Bell
  32. Ryan Preece
  33. Austin Dillon
  34. AJ Allmendinger
  35. Brad Keselowski
  36. Conor Daly
  37. Bubba Wallace
  38. Jimmie Johnson
  39. Ty Dillon

 

Playoff Picture

In With A Win

  1. William Byron (2)
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Joey Logano
  4. Tyler Reddick
  5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

Above the Cut

  1. Ross Chastain (+85)
  2. Kevin Harvick (+60)
  3. Christopher Bell (+58)
  4. Ryan Blaney (+51)
  5. Austin Cindric (+40)
  6. Martin Truex Jr. (+39)
  7. Brad Keselowski (+36)
  8. Denny Hamlin (+35)
  9. Chris Buescher (+31)
  10. Daniel Suarez (+18)
  11. Corey LaJoie (+13)

Outside Looking In

  1. Alex Bowman (-13)
  2. Michael McDowell (-14)
  3. Ty Gibbs (-21)
  4. Bubba Wallace (-36)
  5. AJ Allmendinger (-36)
  6. Erik Jones (-40)
  7. Chase Briscoe (-43)
  8. Todd Gilliland (-44)
  9. Austin Dillon (-46)
  10. Noah Gragson (-53)
  11. Kyle Larson (-69)
  12. Aric Almirola (-69)
  13. Ryan Preece (-70)
  14. Harrison Burton (-73)
  15. Cody Ware (-77)
  16. Ty Dillon (-107)
Keep the Beat marching on. Support us on Patreon.
Become a patron at Patreon!
Circuit of the Americas Tyler Reddick