Sunday July 3, 2022 by Julie Bouchard
Tyler Reddick put his name on the list of winners of a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time when he won this Sunday at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
In this fast-paced race (2h35 minutes, less than that of the Xfinity Series the day before!), Reddick held on in the final laps, maintaining a lead of several seconds over Chase Elliott to give Richard Childress Racing its first win of the season.
Reddick led 16 of the 62 laps of the KwikTrip 250. He rode his No.8 Chevrolet to his first victory on this 4.048-mile permanent road course. It was also his 92nd start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Elliott, for his part, hoped to return to success at the controls of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, but the absence of any neutralization in the last quarter of the race caused large gaps to appear at the finish. The 2020 champion thus finishes 3.304 seconds behind Reddick, while finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of third, his teammate and defending champion, Kyle Larson.
Still among the favorites this season, Ross Chastain (Chevrolet/Trackside Racing) took 4th place, 25.641 seconds behind the winner. He is ahead of his teammate, the Mexican Daniel to form a complete Top 5 of Chevrolet drivers.
Elliott started from pole position and led 24 of the first 30 laps, but gave up a stage win by stopping before every break. This strategy allowed him to return to the forefront once the last pit stops were made.
But Reddick passed Elliott when the latter veered wide in Turn 5, with 17 laps to go. The lack of a neutralization subsequently robbed Eliott of any hope of contesting victory.
Two Ford drivers won segments 1 and 2: Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing) first and Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) second. But it was three other Ford drivers who completed the Top 8, namely Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Michael McDowell. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet) and Kevin Harvick (Ford) come next, while the first Toyota driver, Martin Truex Jr, is only 13th.
For the full ranking, click here. For the summary, see the video below.
The next race in the NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled for next Sunday (3:00 p.m.) at the Atlanta Motor Speedway oval.
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