NASCAR: Tyler Reddick uses pressure to his advantage to win at COTA

Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing are riding high after winning the first three races of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Reddick became the first driver in NASCAR’s history to win the first three races of a season, including the Daytona 500 — 23XI Racing became the first team to win the first three races since Petty Enterprises in 1963.

More News: NASCAR: Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing make history in Austin

Winning the DuraMax Texas Grand Prix didn’t come easy, as the No. 97 car of Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen gave Reddick a run for his money, Reddick, used the pressure from Gisbergen to his advantage to help him win the race.

“I think for me in the heat of the battle, it’s like, ‘alright, I’ve got to find a way to hold off Shane,’ ” Reddick said to Cameron Richardson of NASCAR.com. “As I started to pull away, certainly, it’s like, ‘alright, there’s a lot on the line here.’ Hit your marks. Don’t be a hero. You don’t have to win by eight seconds. So important to just not make mistakes. Shane could have been playing games, right? Like back off a bit, see if I burn my stuff up, and I back up to him at the end of the race. I just didn’t let myself think it was over until it was truly over. So certainly used the pressure of what’s on the line to motivate myself to hit my marks and close it out.”

Reddick has a commanding lead in the standings, totaling 186 points, and has led 112 laps. Reddick’s teammate, Bubba Wallace (23 car), sits in a distant second with 116 points and led 86 laps with two top 10 finishes.

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin thinks Tyler Reddick is “complete” but has some work to do

Reddick’s boss and competitor on the track for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 11 car, Denny Hamlin, has been impressed with Reddick’s talents, calling him “complete.” However, Hamlin says that he and Reddick are still working with him on short tracks.

“He’s complete,” Hamlin said to Richardson. “I mean, the one area that we continue to work on with him is the short tracks. I think that’s where he can still improve a little bit, but we’re working pretty hard on improving him at those types of tracks. But he’s complete and certainly more complete than I am at this stage. He’s got really good things going on. I think we’re steadily seeing him continue to get better. What I love to see is that the work he puts in and things that we provide him for information, he’s soaking it all in and he’s using it and executing it. What I’ve seen out of him over the last few years, where he had some weaknesses, our team has helped him shore those up, and it’s amazing to see how well he’s doing.”

On short tracks (under a mile) like Martinsville Speedway, Reddick finished in 15th place last season and finished in 18th place at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing seem to be legit competitors to win it all

After winning their lawsuit against NASCAR in the offseason, 23XI Racing is a viable competitor to teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Team Penske. No. 9 Chase Elliott (Hendrick, 114 points) and No. 12 Ryan Blaney (Penske, 100 points) are the only drivers over 100 points from the major teams, but have a ton of ground to make up to catch Reddick.

Reddick will try to replicate his victory in Austin and try to win four in a row in Phoenix for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 on March 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

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