Daytona 500 champion Tyler Reddick became just the sixth driver in NASCAR history and first since 2009 to win the first two races of a season by taking the checkered flag in the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway.
The race was a wreckfest with most of the field suffering damage and Reddick was racing without a right front fender in the closing laps. Not an ideal situation on a drafting track.
Two overtimes were needed to finish the race and Reddick lined up in third with is teammate Bubba Wallace in front of him and fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe behind for the final go.
Wallace, who led 46 laps on the day, was lined up alongside Carson Hocevar, who had fellow Chevy drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez behind him. It was a drag race for the first half-lap until Wallace pulled out ahead and made a move up the track to block Hocevar.
The move didn’t work and Hocevar was able to go low to get by Wallace as Reddick moved to the front on the inside. Hocevar didn’t have anyone follow him from behind, however, while Briscoe gave Reddick a push that kept him in front the rest of the way.
“Handling matters here, but, man, I don’t know, I guess determination outweighs handling,” Reddick said while gesturing to his missing fender during his front stretch interview on Fox.
Reddick was followed across the line by Briscoe, Chastain, Hocevar and Suarez.
The Cup Series heads to the Circuit of the Americas road course next Sunday, where Reddick won in 2023.
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