Tyler Reddick Claims Maiden Cup Win At Road America

Finally.

Sunday July 3, in the Kwik Trip 250 presented by Jockey: Made in America, Tyler Reddick became a winner in the NASCAR Cup Series at Road America.

Reddick’s first career win comes in his 92nd start, and will likely lock the 26-year-old Californian into the playoffs.

Starting inside the top five, Reddick used the first two stages to move stealthily forward, beginning the final stage right in the tire tracks of Chase Elliott‘s dominant No. 9 car. Reddick stayed within reach of the lead throughout the final stage, and after a quick four-tire stop under green from his Richard Childress Racing team, he found his chance to strike.

With 17 laps of the four-mile course remaining, Reddick made a clean move on the exit of turn 5 to get side-by-side with Elliott. By the time they reached the Carousel, he was clear. Elliott kept him honest the final 15 laps, but Reddick was able to pull away to an emotional maiden victory.

Kyle Larson finished the afternoon a distant third, with the Trackhouse Racing Team duo of Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez completing the top five. Chris Buescher finished sixth, followed by rookie Austin Cindric, who claims his third consecutive top 10 with a seventh-place run. Road-course aces Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger followed in eighth and ninth, and Kevin Harvick ended the day a quiet 10th.

The first two stages stayed green and went fast, with Elliott building out a massive gap on the field in a rapid No. 9. Despite reported power steering issues, Elliott was regularly several tenths faster than the second-quickest car, building a six-second gap on second-place Chase Briscoe by lap 12. Having such a massive advantage allowed crew chief Alan Gustafson to change the strategy, bringing the No. 9 in with two laps to go before pit road closed at the end of the stage. 

With Elliott and others pitting before the stage end, Chase Briscoe inherited the lead, and scored his second stage win of the season over Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman. 

Stage two saw Briscoe and Cindric struggle to work their way back through the field, so even more of the leaders committed to pit road before the end of stage two. With Elliott giving up the lead for fresh tires once again, Ryan Blaney took advantage to score his fifth stage win of 2022.

Next Sunday July 10, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway’s high banked 1.5-mile oval for the Quaker State 400, airing 3 p.m. EST on USA.