Tyler Reddick survived what can most accurately be described as a “tire disaster” to pick up his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Despite a seemingly-real curse on the leaders in Sunday’s 500-mile contest from The Lone Star State, Reddick led a race-high 70 of 334 laps in capturing his victory, holding the lead for 53 of the race’s final 54 laps.
In a race where exploding tires were a major topic of discussion, the Richard Childress Racing driver was able to make his Goodyear tires last for the final 64 laps of the event, holding off a hard-charging Joey Logano to capture the victory.
Despite holding a one-second lead over the course of the race’s final run, tensions continued to be high for Reddick in the closing laps, as the Corning, California-native reported a vibration in the final laps.
Alas, the 26-year-old was not destined to follow the trend of the – at least – five drivers before him who blew a tire from inside the top-three, keeping his car pointed straight with all four tires inflated to capture the win.
Joey Logano was the highest finishing championship-eligible driver in second place, 1.190 seconds behind race-winner Tyler Reddick, who was eliminated from title contention by two points at Bristol.
Justin Haley and Kaulig Racing picked up another impressive finish Sunday at Texas, recording his second top-five of the season in third, with Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe, both playoff drivers, rounding out the top-five.
Erik Jones, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin completed the top-10 finishers after a long, grueling 500-mile contest at Texas.
Daniel Suarez (12th), Ross Chastain (13th), and Austin Cindric (15th) also scored solid top-15 results at Texas, keeping their hopes of advancing to the next round alive heading into Talladega and Charlotte’s ROVAL.
However, three drivers still eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series title ran into significant problems during the event, relegating them to finishes of 29th or worse.
Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell were both victims of flat tires that sent their vehicles into the outside wall, while Chase Elliott had a fire underneath his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that forced him out of the race.
Martin Truex Jr., Cole Custer, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, and Cody Ware also suffered some sort of tire issue throughout the event, relegating them all to finish 30th or worse, after retiring from the race.
