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Photos by Mike KolchTMS NEWS Release
Tyler Reddick surged late in the third and final stage of Saturday’s SRS Distribution 250 at Texas Motor Speedway to give Big Machine Racing its inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Reddick, a Cup regular with Richard Childress Racing, didn’t lead a lap or finish higher than fourth in the first two stages that covered 80 laps, but turned it on late in the final 87-lap segment. He led the final 31 laps of the 167-lap race in the No. 48 Chevrolet en route to a 1.825-second margin of victory over fellow Cup full-time driver William Byron, who was driving for JR Motorsports.
The win comes in Reddick’s second Xfinity Series start of the season and is the 10th of his career. For upstart Big Machine Racing, the victory comes in the organization’s 45th career start.
“It’s a huge deal for me knowing how hard everyone at Big Machine Racing has worked to get us to where we got today,” said Reddick, who finished 26th at Darlington the previous race for Big Machine Racing. “This is a huge and exciting accomplishment for me.
“The team was putting in the work to be competitive and had me come in and see what we needed to do to get the car in Victory Lane.”
Polesitter Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports came out strong as he led 31 of the 40 laps in Stage 1 and claimed the stage win as well. JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, who led the other nine laps, was second and AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing was third.
Reddick started second but slid back to 14th in the opening laps due running in the resin on the 1.5-mile layout. Reddick was unable to get back into the top 10 in the stage and it appeared this race could be a showdown between JR Motorsports teammates.
Gragson faded to fifth in Stage 2, but his JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry gave the organization its eighth consecutive stage win. He led all but one of the 40 stage laps. JR Motorsports also swept the top three for the stage with Allgaier finishing second again and Byron taking third. Reddick used the stage to move into contention by finishing fourth.
The start of Stage 3 hampered the winning chances of some key contenders when Berry spun after taking the green and initiating a five-car incident that also collected Gragson and Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing. Gragson was finished for the day and Gibbs fell deep back in the field and eventually finished 17th. Berry managed to recover and get back in the top 10, but never threatened.
Allgaier was the next JR Motorsports contender to incur misfortune as a flat tire dropped him from the lead to 31st. It would bring out the eighth of 11 cautions that covered 62 laps on the day, but the ensuing yellows also helped Allgaier situate himself among the top five with 10 to go.
Reddick maintained a comfortable lead of 1.4 seconds or more during those final 10 laps with Byron never having an opportunity to threaten. Reddick and Byron were followed the JR Motorsports duo of Sam Mayer and Allgaier, respectively. Rookie Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing rounded out the top five that consisted of all Chevrolet-powered drivers.
Saturday’s NASCAR All-Star Race Weekend Notebook: Carrolton native Jesse Iwuji finished 34th when he was collected in a multi-car accident after completing 137 laps in the SRS Distribution 250. Iwuji co-owns Jesse Iwuji Motorsports with Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, who was on hand for the race. … More action follows the SRS Distribution 250 with Open and NASCAR All-Star Race practice beginning at 6 p.m. CT and then qualifying for both at 6:35 p.m. … NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell announced in partnership with Texas Motor Speedway a new Micro Sprint event that will debut Sept. 21-24 at Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway. The event will be called “C. Bell’s MICRO MANIA” and run in conjunction with the NASCAR Playoffs doubleheader weekend at TMS set for Sept. 23-25. … Sunday’s on-track schedule begins with The Open race for non-all-star qualifiers at 4:30 p.m. Following the Blake Shelton concert that begins at 5:30 p.m., the NASCAR All-Star Race will begin at 7 p.m. (TV: FS1, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Radio).
