The defending race winner of the Circuit of the Americas race is expected to finish in glory this year as well. Racing Insights projects Tyler Reddick to shine through at COTA again. Quite understandably, as Reddick made Kyle Larson sweat till the last lap at Las Vegas. However, the 23XI racer has possible rivals in his path.

One competitor is obviously Chase Elliott, who ranks third among road course champions, holding 7 wins under his name. But another is an unlikely candidate, Joe Gibbs’ grandson, who is proving to be wiser than his age. Tyler Reddick is well aware of that and lauds the youngster’s efforts and skills. 

Tyler Reddick is all praises for young Gibbs’ prospects

23XI is closely connected to Joe Gibbs Racing, via the one and only Bristol winner Denny Hamlin. Hence, both teams’ racers are well acquainted with each other’s activities, keeping track of their progress both on and off the track. Five-time Cup winner Tyler Reddick is running his 4th year, hopeful to snag another COTA win for 23XI. He is also very optimistic about his JGR counterpart, Ty Gibbs, who is yet to make his Cup-winning breakthrough.

Reddick recently talked about Joe Gibbs’ grandson in the highest regard, “I mean he’s learning a lot, and his speed is certainly there. When you think of his experience level in the Cup series, and how tough that transition can be, I think he’s doing very, very well. He’s hard on himself and wants to win races, as any driver does when they come to the Cup series. But he’s right there.”

Tyler Reddick further stressed the youngster’s speed which may propel him to Victory Lane soon.“It’s just a matter of time. There’s no line to it. I mean, you just see the speed he brings to the race track, his ability, his racecraft improving. Yeah, it could be any weekend, it could be this weekend, it could be the next. He’s got a lot of speed.”

On Saturday’s qualifying race, Gibbs indeed showed how fast he is by grabbing 2nd place, while Tyler Reddick is right behind in 3rd. Ty Gibbs also recorded the best average speed over five consecutive laps around the 3.41-mile road course. 

As hopeful as Reddick is about his and his rival’s prospects, there are doubts in his mind because of the extra pavement at COTA this weekend.

Reddick talked about NASCAR’s ‘inconsistent’ efforts at COTA

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The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is going to witness a lot of pavement areas. If drivers are mindless and go off-course, they could be slapped with a pass-through penalty. While only four of the track’s 20 corners have such restrictions, the COTA defending race winner is not too sure about these developments.

“I think what is really important to them (officials) is being consistent about it. If it can’t be consistently enforced, throughout the whole field, then there is really no point of having that chance of somebody getting away with something another car couldn’t and getting penalized for it. There is a little bit of back-and-forth and trying to see where the limit is going to end up being, but at the end of the day — largely — how you approach this race track and how you run isn’t changed too much by it.”

Tyler Reddick is heading into his possible sixth career Cup victory. Do you think sophomore Ty Gibbs will be a thorn in his side that’d eventually make him proud? 

Christopher Bell Adapts Tyler Reddick’s Daring Tactic to Escape NASCAR’s Frustrating COTA Roadblock