Following the upcoming Cup Series race at Bristol, drivers will find themselves in Texas for the race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Regardless of what other drivers might feel about the road course introduced to NASCAR in 2021, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will go into it with hearts in his eyes, for it is his favorite track of them all.
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Talking to KSAT 12 Sports’ Mary Rominger in a recent interview, he explained why it was so. He said, “This place over the years for me, I’ve spent time racing it in other series as well. It’s just a very fun racetrack to just make laps on.” Continuing on its merits, he detailed that the track made driving an enjoyable experience even without any competitors to race against.
“For me, COTA is one of those racetracks that is super enjoyable,” he added. “Just you versus the racetrack all by yourself with the 20 corners… A lot is going on there and every time we come back it’s a little bit different so it’s just a really fun challenge to attack this track lap after lap.”
With 20 corners in it, COTA makes running the perfect lap a mounting challenge. For Reddick, that’s what gets his blood rushing and makes the track a fun place to drive. To align with all his love for the road course, Michael Jordan’s driver has some extremely good results on it.
Tyler Reddick’s expertise in the COTA road course in Texas
Since the track’s introduction, NASCAR has run three races on it. Reddick has finished inside the top ten in each of them and won it once (2023). The race that he won last year saw him overtake William Byron for the lead with four laps left in the scheduled limit. He then held on to his lead through three overtimes and ended up getting named the winner.
“This means the world,” He told Fox Sports after the extraordinary race. “This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better. Was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too.”
The COTA event dates in 2024 are March 22-24. The 3.41-mile track will serve as a fresh challenge to contenders as it will be the first road course race of the season. Reddick will no doubt be one of the favorites to win.
However, he has a battle at the ‘Last Great Colosseum’ to overcome before that.
