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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Tyler Reddick and No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota were the class of the field all weekend at Circuit of the Americas and capped it with a dominating win in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin, Texas on March 26. The win was Reddick’s first of the season, and his first with his new team 23XI Racing.

In the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course of the season, it looked like the 3.41 course was going to produce the first fuel mileage race of the season as well. However, multiple late race cautions restacked the field and caused chaos in turn one on each restart. Drivers who ran well all day were caught up in the late-race mayhem, and their finish reflected that.

Ryan Preece, who was running in the top 10 before getting caught in one of the multiple wrecks in overtime, was very candid with his words on how he thought the final laps went.

“This comes down to a lack of respect,” Preece said in a post-race interview with Frontstretch. “I get so frustrated because growing up, a lot of these guys just pay their way and they do not respect cars, and what happens going into turn one … They just run into everyone, and they ruin days.”

Preece finished 32nd.

Ahead of the destruction, Reddick and fifth-place finisher William Byron in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet led a combined 69 laps with Reddick leading a race-high 41. Late race pit strategy helped Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Netspend Chevrolet to come home in second-place. Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, and Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet rounded out the top five finishers in third and fourth place, respectively.

The road course brought out a handful of experienced road racers such as Jenson Button, Jordan Taylor, Kimi Räikkönen and Conor Daly. Button grabbed the top finishing spot of the quartet with an 18th-place finish.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings

This reflects the No. 5, 9, 24 and 48 Hendrick Motorsports cars getting their points back after winning their appeal on March 29.

*denotes race win

1. Alex Bowman
2. Ross Chastain -15
3. William Byron -29 **
4. Kyle Busch -34 *
5. Joey Logano -40 *
6. Kevin Harvick -40
7. Christopher Bell -42
8. Ryan Blaney -49
9. Kyle Larson -56
10. Austin Cindric -60
11. Martin Truex Jr. -61
12. Brad Keselowski -64
13. Tyler Reddick -65 *
14. Denny Hamlin -65
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -67 *
16. Chris Buescher -69

———————————————

17. Daniel Suarez -82
18. Corey Lajoie -87
19. Michael McDowell -101
20. Ty Gibbs -108
21. Bubba Wallace -123
22. J. Allmendinger -123
23. Erik Jones -127
24. Chase Briscoe -130
25. Todd Gilliland -131
26. Austin Dillon -133
27. Noah Gragson -140
28. Aric Almirola -156
29. Ryan Preece -157
30. Harrison Burton -160

(Source: NASCAR.com)

 

The Starting Grid

Toyota Owners 400

Where: Richmond Raceway, a 0.750-mile oval with 14 degrees of banking in Richmond, Virginia

When: April 2 at 2:30

Last Year’s Winner: Denny Hamlin

Also This Week: The NASCAR Xfinity Series will be at Richmond Raceway running the ToyotaCare 250 on April 1 at noon. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be at Texas Motor Speedway for their fifth race of the season at 2:30 p.m. on April 1.

A Note: Opened in 1946, Richmond has held NASCAR Cup Series races since 1953. Richard Petty holds the most wins at the track with 13, and Kyle Busch is the winningest active driver at the track with six wins. Kevin Harvick holds the track record for the cup series with a 21.849.

(Source: NASCAR.com)