One of the biggest sources of trouble when racing on superspeedways has always been green-flag pit stops, an attribute of the high-speed pack racing that remained true in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega.
In the first stage of Sunday’s race, two drivers faced issues with getting to the pits under green, the second of which drew a caution flag, as the field attempted to make their first set of green-flag pit stops.
Tyler Reddick was the first driver to have issues coming to pit road, when the driver of the No. 45 Toyota Camry made a bold move to get to the inside of the track, which he did successfully.
However, upon getting to the inside of the track, Reddick lost control of his MoneyLion-sponsored machine, spinning down to the entrance of pit road, and hitting the inside wall. The 23XI Racing driver was able to continue but lost touch with the pack.
"COMING IN HOT" https://t.co/7GJZG3uRzP pic.twitter.com/lJ8qb5Kd6y
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 23, 2023
The second incident came just a couple of laps later, when several of the Ford Performance drivers elected to make their pit stops, this time with Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang.
Briscoe, much like Reddick, lost control of his Mahindra Tractors-sponsored entry while coming to pit road, spinning to avoid making major contact with the rear-end of Noah Gragson at pit entrance.
Around goes Briscoe! Caution is out. https://t.co/sqoQU7c31F pic.twitter.com/WtGMIZJgdQ
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While spinning, Briscoe blew the right-front tire on his No. 14 Ford Mustang, which made it nearly impossible for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver to move from the place where he came to rest after the spin.
Having come to a complete stop on pit road, without the ability to move further, NASCAR was forced to display the second caution of the event, right in the middle of the first set of green-flag pit stops.
In the time it took for Briscoe to get moving again and put on four new tires, the Mitchell, Indiana native had gone two laps down but would receive the free pass at the stage caution, putting him only one lap down.
