FORT WORTH, Texas — On Saturday (Sept. 24), Kyle Larson said that in a hypothetical Texas Motor Speedway repave, they should demolish the track and start from scratch.
That response set the tone for the weekend. Cody Ware had a frightening crash into the pit wall, three different drivers crashed out the lead from blown tires, and the race became a marathon of survival in the closing laps. There were 16 cautions (a Cup record at Texas) for 91 laps and a run time of four hours, 21 minutes and 53 seconds. With an average speed of 114.784 mph, Sunday’s (Sept. 25) race shattered the previous low speed of 125.111 mph that was set at the inaugural race in 1997.
Tyler Reddick scored the win after leading a race-high 70 laps and joined Chase Elliott as the only drivers to win at least three races in the 2022 season. While Reddick and the No. 8 team were satisfied with another victory, just about everyone else in the field left with frustration and questions.
Christopher Bell quickly moved through the field in the first half of the race, but he suffered two flat tires, the second of which ended his day on lap 136.
“No, I had no idea [of a warning],” Bell said. “I mean, to have two right rears go in the first half of the race is very, very strange. I don’t know. Very disappointing day and going to be in a deep [playoff] hole now.”
It was a rough start to the Round of 16 for Elliott, but he showed muscle last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway after finishing second. He also looked to be one of the fastest cars in the field at Texas as he led 44 of the first 183 laps. But after exiting turn 4 on lap 184 as the leader, Elliott had a tire go down and he crashed into the outside wall. The car came to rest in the tri-oval, and Elliott quickly bailed out after the No. 9 car was set ablaze.
“[Goodyear] is always the one to take a black eye, right?” Elliott said. “The tire has their name on it, but they’re put in a tough position to build something that can survive what we’re putting it through.
“Whatever was coming apart, when it started coming apart, I was already out of shape and at that point I was on corner exit, so it was just a bad place for it.”
The race was paused for rain, and drivers then had to face a track surface that had significantly cooled off from the 95-degree weather in the afternoon. The race resumed after a brief delay, and the caution came out once again on lap 242 after Chris Buescher lost a tire while running third….
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