Tyler Reddick was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway with a lap of 168.596mph (53.382s) – his second on track Saturday afternoon. He was quickest over Kyle Busch, who ran 168.483mph. William Byron was third fastest at …
Tyler Reddick was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway with a lap of 168.596mph (53.382s) — his second on track Saturday afternoon. He was quickest over Kyle Busch, who ran 168.483mph.
William Byron was third fastest at 168.397mph, Kyle Larson fourth at 168.290mph and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top five at 168.205mph.
Chris Buescher was sixth fastest at 168.130mph. Buescher then went for a single-car spin off Turn 1 but kept his Ford Mustang off the wall — the only incident of practice.
Denny Hamlin was seventh fastest at 167.854mph. Hamlin crossed the finish line first at Pocono last season but, along with now-former teammate Kyle Busch, was later disqualified. It handed the win to Chase Elliott, who was eighth fastest in practice at 167.748mph.
Ty Gibbs was ninth at 167.436mph. Alex Bowman completed the top 10 at 167.408mph.
Gibbs ran the most laps — 19. It was a year ago this weekend at Pocono Raceway when he made his Cup Series debut, filling in for the injured Kurt Busch.
There are 36 drivers entered in the HighPoint.com 400.
William Byron was the fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap averages over Tyler Reddick, Gy Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin.
Tyler Reddick was fastest in a rare extended Friday practice session for NASCAR Cup Series teams at Nashville Superspeedway. He clocked in at 162.25mph (29.51s) in his 23XI Racing Toyota, running a total of 46 laps. Martin Truex Jr.’s Toyota was …
Tyler Reddick was fastest in a rare extended Friday practice session for NASCAR Cup Series teams at Nashville Superspeedway.
He clocked in at 162.25mph (29.51s) in his 23XI Racing Toyota, running a total of 46 laps.
Martin Truex Jr.’s Toyota was second fastest behind Reddick. Truex’s fastest lap was 161.408mph.
Ross Chastain was third fastest at 161.37mph, Erik Jones fourth at 160.99mph, William Byron fifth at 160.914mph, Bubba Wallace sixth at 160.795mph and Denny Hamlin seventh at 160.763mph.
Chase Elliott, the defending race winner, was eighth fastest in practice with a run of 160.714mph.
Chris Buescher was ninth at 160.66mph and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 at 160.585mph.
There was one incident during practice.
Kyle Busch went for a single-car spin off Turn 4 and through the frontstretch grass. He had no contact with the wall and did return to the track to finish practice. Busch was 21st fastest.
Reddick was also fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. Chastain, Truex, Byron, and Larson were the rest of the top five in the category.
There are 36 drivers entered in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Toyota Gazoo Racing driver and team principal Kamui Kobayashi will make his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series this August at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 2021 Le Mans overall winner and two-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner will drive an 23XI …
Toyota Gazoo Racing driver and team principal Kamui Kobayashi will make his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series this August at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 2021 Le Mans overall winner and two-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner will drive an 23XI Racing-run No. 67 Toyota Camry in this year’s 200 Miles at the Brickyard on Aug. 13 — part of a doubleheader weekend with IndyCar in which both series will share the IMS road course.
“NASCAR is something different in the culture of motorsports compared to Japan and Europe — as a driver, it’s the American dream,” said Kobayashi at today’s announcement at Le Mans, where he is hoping to help score Toyota its sixth win in a row at the Circuit de la Sarthethis weekend.
“I was lucky to be able to race in IMSA the last couple of years. It’s a different form of racing, but I think the racing technology is at a high level. I really appreciate this opportunity from TRD USA and of course Toyota Motor North America and Toyota Gazoo Racing. Toyota has been racing in NASCAR for a long time, but I don’t think any other Japanese driver has raced a Toyota in the Cup Series. I’m very proud of this opportunity.”
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In fact, it will mark the first time in 20 years that a Japanese national will start a NASCAR Cup Series race. The last to do so was Hideo Fukuyama, who made four starts in the Cup Series between 2002-03 — and who, like Kobayashi, was also a successful driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a GT class win in 2000.
David Wilson, president of TRD, U.S.A., driver Kamui Kobayashi of Japan and Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, with the No. 67 Toyota Camry TRD car Kobayashi will drive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“It’s truly an honor to have Kamui want to participate in our NASCAR Cup Series program, and we’re thrilled that we could work with our partners at 23XI Racing to give him a competitive Camry TRD for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course event,” said David Wilson, president of TRD USA. “Kamui shares the passion for motorsports that all of us at Toyota and TRD USA live every day so it will be exciting to show him our NASCAR program with him behind the wheel of one of our TRD Camrys.”
Kobayashi’s one-off appearance follows those of Jenson Button, Mike Rockenfeller and Jordan Taylor who have all made recent guest NASCAR starts.
23XI Racing will attempt NASCAR history this weekend at Kansas Speedway with the No. 45 Toyota. Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace swept the NASCAR Cup Series races in Kansas last season, and both were driving the No. 45 when they won. Tyler Reddick will …
23XI Racing will attempt NASCAR history this weekend at Kansas Speedway with the No. 45 Toyota.
Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace swept the NASCAR Cup Series races in Kansas last season, and both were driving the No. 45 when they won. Tyler Reddick will drive the car Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, FS1) as he tries to win the team its third consecutive race at the track.
No car number has won three consecutive races at a racetrack with three different drivers.
“It would be really cool, but all that aside, it’s about coming in here and putting together a good weekend and executing,” Reddick said. “Both cars and both teams, this whole organization is really, really excited and really wants to see what we’ve got a couple of months removed from the last time we were here.
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“Everyone comes in with a lot of confidence, and we need to capitalize on that and get the weekend started on the right foot in practice and qualify well. But certainly, it would be really cool to do that. I know we’ll both be out there giving it everything we’ve got, so as long as one of us gets it done, it’s fine by me.”
Busch won the spring race at Kansas Speedway. Wallace is the most recent winner, capturing his second career win in the series in September. In both races, the No. 45 was one of the fastest in the field.
“It was massive for the team,” Wallace said of his triumph. “The win last year was big for the team, and to complete the sweep was really cool. I thought the 23 car was pretty solid there in the first race, too, and had some troubles that took us out of contention, but to come back and seal the deal in the 45 was just special for our team and being so new. That was our second year, and (we made) the most of it.
“I’m assuming when they all started this, they didn’t really plan on sweeping Kansas races in the second year going. So, I’m just proud to be a part of the process and coming back here, I think all the momentum is on our side.”
Wallace drove the No. 45 in the second Kansas race because Busch had been sidelined in the summer with a concussion. Because Busch’s car was still in the owner championship hunt, 23XI Racing made the decision to put Wallace behind the wheel in its hunt for owner points.
Thoughts of winning aside, Wallace and Reddick are optimistic and eager about the weekend ahead. Kansas is a fast intermediate facility that will make it clear where an organization stands.
“I think it’s going to be exciting,” said Wallace. “Obviously, it feels really good to get back here to Kansas and get back to what we did in the fall. … I’ve seen some talks that Toyota is the top of the topic heading into the weekend, so it’s good. We’re on track to get our ship righted in the right way, so it all starts here.”
Wallace has not had a top-10 finish since Martinsville Speedway three weeks ago. He has two top-10 finishes through 11 races.
Reddick has five top-10 finishes, including a win. Reddick started on the front row in both Kansas Speedway races last year and led laps in both races but finished no better than 30th in those events.
“This is a track that I had a lot of speed last year in both events but couldn’t quite put the whole race together,” Reddick said. “The second race went out with a bang for us (crashing from the pole). But really excited to get back here, obviously.
“I had to race against 23XI last year here, and it was really cool to see all the speed they had and knowing I was going to be going there at some point, and now that we’re here I’m really excited to see what we have in practice in a few hours. It’s going to be a little warmer, but I think that should help us even more.”
“If you would have told me that two years and seven races into the life of 23XI Racing that we would have had four wins across three different drivers, I would have told you that would be amazing if we could pull that off. And we have, and there is …
“If you would have told me that two years and seven races into the life of 23XI Racing that we would have had four wins across three different drivers, I would have told you that would be amazing if we could pull that off. And we have, and there is still a lot more to be done.”
That’s 23XI Racing President Steve Lauletta commenting on the current status of the third year NASCAR Cup organization. Brought out into the light during the summer of 2020 when word started bubbling up out of North Carolina that NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing Cup driver Denny Hamlin were looking into owning a team, the program has been building momentum ever since.
Q: I was watching the final laps of Talladega on Sunday and 23XI Racing was right in the middle of everything. The team really looks like it is clicking.
STEVE LAULETTA: Well, I think we have continued the growth path that we have been on the first two seasons. And it hasn’t been easy because we’ve had to make moves along the way. Obviously, adding a second car and then having to do it with Kurt Busch, and then having to adjust with Kurt, and then having to adjust with Kurt being out of the car, and now bringing Tyler Reddick into the mix, it hasn’t been a consistent ability to build on it all.
That adds to what I’m really proud of with this team. There are things that are thrown at us that we’ve been able to adjust to and to keep the forward trajectory going. Getting that win at the Circuit of the Americas with Tyler, that was his first win for us and the first win for Toyota of the season, was excellent. It all feels like this five-year plan that Denny Hamlin set out that we have originally to be a championship-caliber team is moving along at a pace that we are all pleased with.
If you would have told me that two years and seven races into the life of 23XI Racing that we would have had four wins across three different drivers, I would have told you that would be amazing if we could pull that off. And we have, and there is still a lot more to be done. Consistently having fast cars and being in the mix is what puts you in that position. And the amount of work that everybody here at 23XI Racing puts into it week-in and week-out is just impressive to be around, and makes you really proud to be part of this team.
Q: It seems like the dynamic and cooperative effort between Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick aadd up to a really good balance of driving skill and talent and team cooperation. What do you think?
SL: Yeah, they get along great, and Kurt Busch is in the mix, too. He’s helping them week-in and week-out and understanding the two of them from his standpoint as a great leader who has experience to lean on. They all get along well and they’re talking all of the time, and the interaction between both teams is really, really strong. It’s proven. You saw Bubba qualify the highest he’s ever qualified at a road course at COTA, and then Tyler went out and dominated the race and that is because they were both working hard preparing for that race.
What Bubba can do at other tracks, Tyler will benefit from those exchanges of information. It does seem like we are operating as an organization instead of two individual teams is working from the drivers to the crew chiefs to everybody in the shop. With our partners, we are still talking about ‘Forward Together’ and that’s our partners and our team working as one because we’re more powerful that way. Individually, we are going to unveil a paint scheme soon that kind of brings that to life along with a little nod to Kurt and his involvement with the team. We are always trying to think of ways to bring the group together and then to have people outside feed off of what we are doing.
Wallace and Reddick are finding their groove as teammates. John Harrelson/Motorsport Images
Q: You’ve spoken about 23XI Racing being a “brand that happens to be a race team, not a race team brand.” The 23XI Racing team certainly seems to be adhering to this mantra.
SL: We are trying to. A lot of us have been in this business for a while, and when a clean sheet of paper called 23XI Racing allowed us to do it in a different way, we can take our experience and the things that we like and didn’t like and bring it all to a new place, and have an ownership group that lets us take some chances and to do things different and to push ourselves and say, “If every other team is going to the right, why don’t we go to the left and see what that’s like?”
That is what I try to push on every day. I want us to think of every way we can do something different than what is being done now. It may not benefit us. Hopefully some of the things we do come up will benefit us and it will give us that leap above everybody who are all kind of globbed together in the corner doing it the same way.
Q: And what a prism of sponsorship partners you guys have. It seems like a new 23XI Racing sponsorship announcement cones out each and every week.
SL: It’s not weekly. I wish it was weekly! Look, there are as many conversations that we have that we don’t pursue because it doesn’t fit our brand or it doesn’t fit with what we are trying to do with our other partners as there are partners that we announce. Earlier this year in one week we announced new partnerships with Wal-Mart and Xfinity. Those are two blue-chip, big brands. That’s the kind of relationships that we are trying to build.
When we look at The Beast coming on from Monster and being a brand-new product, and then looking at 23XI Racing and Tyler Reddick and saying, “Hey, why don’t you guys help us build this brand…” Those are things that make you proud and they get you excited, because they are opportunities that don’t come along very often, and when you’re tapped on the shoulder by a major organization like Monster Energy and some of the other major brands, you really put as much heart and soul into that off the racetrack as we do trying to win races on the racetrack. We are trying to show up and bring new fans to this sport and in order to do that, we have to reach into the areas that are maybe non-traditional and are putting the sport of NASCAR and 23XI Racing and our partners in places and in front of people that may not know what we are and what the sport is all about.
Q: Are you getting any feedback from NASCAR or other tams and entities involved in the sport?
SL: I think we’re being noticed. I think that’s a nice thing. Of course we work as close to NASCAR from a marketing perspective and from a marketing perspective that we can. We have a great relationship with McDonald’s and McDonald’s is going to be one of the premier partners of the Chicago street race. It’s their hometown market. We’ll work a lot on how to bring that to life in and around that brand-new street race. These things are the connections that we are always trying to foster and to make what we are doing have a bigger amplifier instead of just one person doing it at a time.
You know, I’m here at 23XI Racing because it’s fun. Every day has been a challenge and something different. We’ve got the new shop under construction and that will be a new piece of opportunity for us to engage fans and our partners with. We always want to take a step forward as an organization. There seems to always be something coming that makes it real exciting to see where this is going to go.
Bubba Wallace took responsibility for the crash between himself and Ryan Blaney on the last lap of Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, ending a potential duel for the win between the two friends. “I pulled a late block – close, close, close …
Bubba Wallace took responsibility for the crash between himself and Ryan Blaney on the last lap of Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, ending a potential duel for the win between the two friends.
“I pulled a late block – close, close, close block — and just that sent us around,” Wallace said. “Not the No. 12’s (Blaney) fault, just I honestly thought that he would leave me high and dry coming back around and so just hate it, hate it for my team. That’s how it goes.
“So that was our best, by far, plate race that we’ve ever done, so hat’s off to the No. 23 group, Freddie on top of the roof. Just a great day for us, just a crap result, so…hate it. I caused that one and man, I just thought it’d play out a little bit different — obviously not getting wrecked, but I thought the move would happen coming off through the trioval.”
Wallace’s 23XI Racing Toyota led the field at the white flag with an assist from Blaney. The two surged in the outside lane around Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, who led the inside lane.
“The way we were shoving and pushing, we were kind of getting each other out of whack and sort of moving the momentum forward,” Wallace said. “And then when I got the move, it was, you know, OK, cool, and it was all about defending, and you can’t let your guard down for one second, or you end up in (the infield care center).”
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After making the pass for the lead, going into Turn 1, Wallace and Blaney simultaneously moved to the bottom. Blaney, however, still had a run and started moving to the outside, which Wallace chased. The two touched, and Wallace spun to the left, bounced off Keselowski, and spun back into the pack.
“It’s hard to block in these cars,” Blaney said. “I felt like he kind of triple-moved on me; can’t really do that. You block the middle, block the bottom, block the top and I’m there. It’s a shame he got turned, but I don’t know what else I could do besides slam on the brakes and you can’t do that.
“I’m not blaming anybody; it’s just hard racing. As the leader, I would have done the same thing. You’re trying to block and maintain the lead. But as second, I’ve got to take every run I can get and keep my momentum, so it’s just one of those things.”
Busch drove through as the seas parted. He was the leader and winner as the caution came out and ended the race. Blaney finished second.
“I’m mad we didn’t win,” Blaney said of his thoughts after the crash. “That’s the thing that went through my head first.”
The Penske driver said he and Wallace would talk about what happened. He said it “stinks” when there is contact between friends, but doesn’t race Wallace any differently than the rest of the field.
As the race wound down, Wallace was glad to see Blaney around him in the draft.
“Oh, when I saw the No. 12, I was pumped,” said Wallace. “We work well together, obviously, every speedway race, and that’s just the way it goes. Not the No. 12’s fault at all.”
For Blaney, his winless streak goes to 56 races. He led a race-high 47 laps Sunday at Talladega.
When asked if he thinks about what more he can do to win a race, Blaney said, “Every single day.”
Bubba Wallace also weighed in on college football’s Dr Pepper tuition toss conundrum: quarterback throw or two-handed chest pass?
By his own admission, Bubba Wallace’s first nine races of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season have been far from perfect. Crashes, engine issues, pit stop mishaps, speeding penalties, miscues — Wallace and the No. 23 Toyota team have seen it all in the first quarter of NASCAR’s season.
However, the 29-year-old driver for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing team has high hopes for the next stretch of the season. Not only does Wallace say he and the team are learning from their mistakes, but his first career Cup wins also were at two of the next three tracks: Talladega Superspeedway and Kansas Speedway.
So ahead of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega, For The Win spoke with Wallace about his season’s progress, making contact Hamlin’s bumper last week at Martinsville Speedway and the Dr Pepper and 23XI SPEED Institute Tuition Program — which 23XI says has distributed more than $230,000 in tuition support. Now in its third installment, the program offers tuition support for 23 college students each year and was established to boost the 23XI SPEED (scholarship, professional education, executive development) Institute in its diversity and equity efforts.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Tyler Reddick put down the quickest lap in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway and was the only driver to crack 93mph. His 23XI Racing Toyota clocked in at 93.664mph (20.217s) after running 53 laps in practice. …
Tyler Reddick put down the quickest lap in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway and was the only driver to crack 93mph.
His 23XI Racing Toyota clocked in at 93.664mph (20.217s) after running 53 laps in practice.
William Byron was second fastest at 92.846mph. Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team are the defending spring race winners at Martinsville.
Ross Chastain was third fastest at 92.837mph. Chris Buescher was fourth at 92.615mph and Kevin Harvick fifth, also at 92.615 mph.
Daniel Suarez was sixth at 92.583mph, Kyle Busch seventh at 92.569mph, Michael McDowell eighth at 92.524mph, Noah Gragson ninth at 92.520mph, and Chase Elliot 10th fastest at 92.466mph.
Elliott ran 37 laps in his first time behind the wheel since late February at Auto Club Speedway. The 2020 series champion is making his return to competition this weekend after missing six races following a snowboarding accident.
Zane Smith was 18th fastest in the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing. Smith is driving the car at Martinsville due to Cody Ware being indefinitely suspended this week after being arrested and charged with assault.
Reddick was also fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average over Byron, Harvick, AJ Allmendinger, and Elliott.
There are 36 drivers entered in Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville.
Tyler Reddick paused a post-race interview to go stop Christopher Bell before the latter made his way to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway, wanting to congratulate Bell on his victory and also lament what could have been had Sunday’s race run …
Tyler Reddick paused a post-race interview to go stop Christopher Bell before the latter made his way to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway, wanting to congratulate Bell on his victory and also lament what could have been had Sunday’s race run to completion.
“Wish we would have had that extra half lap,” Reddick said of their conversation. “Me and him both didn’t know how it was really going to end.”
Reddick finished second to Bell in the Food City Dirt Race, his chance at taking a shot at the win stymied when the caution flew on the final lap. The two Toyota drivers were each dominant throughout the night, with Bell leading the final 100 laps.
But Reddick, running up against the fence, had closed the gap at the white flag.
“It was like having some PTSD there but reversed,” he chuckled.
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A year ago in the dirt race, Reddick was the one being chased on the final lap. Chase Briscoe ended up taking them both out in Turn 3 – handing the win to Kyle Busch – when he attempted a slide job that went wrong.
“I feel like Christopher probably would have done a better job defending it than I did last year,” Reddick said. “But we raced really, really hard there at the end. When (Ryan) Blaney spun, I was pretty convinced the caution was going to come out; I kind of checked up, he did too, and he got back going better than I did and got a gap. I just needed to close the gap and didn’t.”
Blaney was spun off the race’s final restart with eight laps to go. Somehow the field avoided Blaney, who was running inside the top five, and the caution never flew.
With a smile, Bell said Reddick told him that, “It was going to be interesting if the yellow flag didn’t come out.”
Did Reddick have a move ready had the final lap gone the distance?
“I don’t know if it’d been a good one,” he said. “I honestly think (Bell) would have defended it. I don’t know if he knew the caution was out, so that’s why he went to the bottom, or if that was going to be his defensive line, which — if you’re in his situation — that was the move to make.
“We’ll never really know, but I was going to go for it, for sure.”
Reddick earned 13 points in the stages, including winning the second stage. He led 69 of the race’s 250 laps.
Tyler Reddick prevailed in three overtime restarts to claim his first trophy of the year – and first with his new team, 23XI Racing – with a 1.411s victory over two-time series champion Kyle Busch in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the NASCAR …
Tyler Reddick prevailed in three overtime restarts to claim his first trophy of the year – and first with his new team, 23XI Racing — with a 1.411s victory over two-time series champion Kyle Busch in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of the season.
It was a field of international champions and NASCAR’s very best at the Circuit of The Americas course, but for most of the race the outcome looked to be decided in a good ole Texas duel between the two fastest cars all weekend driven by Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The pair exchanged the lead, lap after exciting lap for most of the afternoon.
On the final two-lap restart, Reddick was able to put his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota out front exiting Turn 1 — a tight left-hander — and power forward to the lead, while Busch and third-place finisher Alex Bowman, fourth-place finisher – and defending race winner — Ross Chastain and fifth-place Byron fought door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper as they chased after him.
“I’ve been wanting to win here in a Cup car for a long time,” the 27-year-old Californian Reddick said, now having four NASCAR Cup Series wins, but noted this was his first as a Toyota driver and with his 23XI Racing Team – co-owned by fellow competitor Denny Hamlin and NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
“It means the world,” said Reddick, who sat down on the track and leaned against his car with a bag of ice to cool down on the typically Texas-hot afternoon. “This whole 23XI team has been working hard all winter long to make the road course program better and was extremely motivated to come in here and improve performance. Just so proud of this Monster Energy team and TRD. All the resources they’ve put in to turn around the road course program means a lot.”
As often happens late in a road course race, patience lags and urgency increases. That was certainly the case Sunday with three different overtime restarts deciding the outcome. Reddick and Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet combined to lead 69 of the race’s 75 laps with Reddick out front a race-best 41 of those, most of them after hard-fought challenges and back-and-forth corner after corner with polesitter Byron.
“It feels good to get a top five, but we had a top-two race car really with the No. 45. He was really better than everybody, but I thought we were a close second,” said Byron, a two-race winner already in 2023, whose fifth-place finish at COTA was his career best on a road course. “We’ll keep building on it.”
Busch’s runner-up effort was an impressive comeback. He had been mid-pack for most of the afternoon but gambled on fuel strategy to move forward during some late race cautions.
“Even if we were on equal tires, they were lights out,” said Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“Overall, for as much effort as we put into coming here and focusing on this place and all the testing we did in the offseason, we’re coming out of here with a good finish. Tyler’s obviously a really good road course racer.”
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In addition to the NASCAR stars, the field included four big names from other racing genres including IMSA champion Jordan Taylor, who drove the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for injured former COTA winner Chase Elliott; a pair of former Formula One champions in Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen and popular IndyCar Series regular Conor Daly.
Among these four, Button – the 2009 Formula One World Champion – claimed the top finishing position, 18th in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Taylor, a two-time winner at COTA in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finished 24th but made a huge impression in his debut after qualifying fourth.
Raikkonen, the 2007 F1 World Champion from Finland, finished 29th but ran as high as fourth place late in the race. Daly only got 16 laps into the race before his team had to take his No. 50 The Money Team Racing Chevrolet behind the wall for extended repairs. He finished 36th.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson didn’t even get a full lap of green flag racing in only his second start of the 2023 season. The owner-driver of the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car accident that eliminated his car and left him 38th in the standings.
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland rounded out the top 10.
Chastain takes over the championship lead by 19 points over Busch. Ty Gibbs, who finished ninth, continues to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points standings.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition next Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
