It’s likely that only a small group of people will leave Texas Motor Speedway on the evening of Sunday (Sept. 25) satisfied with the NASCAR Cup Series’ Autotrader Echo Park Automotive 500.
Race winner Tyler Reddick and his Richard Childress Racing No. 8 team are among that small number.
Maneuvering past Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with 54 laps to go, Reddick comfortably fended off Joey Logano until the checkered flag, but the experience was likely far from comfortable. The three previous race leaders had blown right rear tires from the front, and if anyone is familiar with heartbreaking blowouts, it’s surely the young Californian.
But the tires held up and Reddick maintained his lead to the end, claiming his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, all of which have come in 2022. After his elimination from the playoffs last week, it marks a record-tying fourth consecutive race won by drivers ineligible for the championship.
Logano followed Reddick home in second place, with Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley tying his best finish of the season in third. Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, will surely be happy to escape Texas with solid top fives. Erik Jones, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10.
With the safety and reliability of the Next Gen car and Goodyear tires a topic of discussion from Bristol Motor Speedway last week, the conversations will continue on the way out of Texas. Like clockwork, Goodyear tire failures bit contender after contender after 35 green-flag laps, and headlines will be stolen by a terrifying crash that could easily have been even worse.
On two separate occasions, Christopher Bell’s No. 20 suffered flat right-rear Goodyears. When the first one failed in turn 4 on lap 79, a quick reaction from the Oklahoman got the Rheem Toyota onto pit road with minimal damage. Catching a caution kept Bell on the lead lap.
Christopher Bell is the latest Joe Gibbs Racing driver with problems in Stage 1 at Texas. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/DZNWMNRSha
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 25, 2022
The second time he was not so lucky. On lap 137, also in the fourth turn, the right rear went down again, sending Bell backwards into the SAFER barrier and out of the race. He was scored in 34th position.
Bookended by Bell’s tire issues was Alex Bowman, who also blew a tire in the fourth corner and crashed hard. Bowman’s Hendrick…
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