This past weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series did not race, giving teams a much needed opportunity to take a step back to regroup and fine-tune their setups. Many teams that were consistently upfront last season are off to a slow start this year.
One driver who is not off to a slow start is Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing. After the charter lawsuit that took place in the offseason between 23XI Racing and NASCAR, Reddick has started the season at a record pace, winning four of the first seven races.
Reddick started off the season with three straight wins, something that has never been done in NASCAR until now. He currently holds an 82-point lead over Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who has only one win on the season. The other winners on the season include Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott.
Ty Gibbs is currently sixth in points, which is a major jump from last year. Gibbs has had considerably more pace this year and has been a threat at the front of the field. With the pace that he has shown this year, he is currently on pace to capture that elusive first career Cup win.
However, Gibbs’s teammate Chase Briscoe is all the way down in the 21st points spot. Briscoe, a Championship 4 driver last year, has dealt with many issues this year, such as mistimed cautions. Briscoe has shown speed, but he isn’t able to translate that to points when he is mired back in lap traffic.
As a whole, Team Trackhouse has not performed to expectations this year, with their highest contender being Shane van Gisbergen in 14th. Coming from last year’s team that had two of their three cars in the playoffs, this is a large step backward.
Other notable drivers include Bubba Wallace and Connor Zilisch. Wallace was off to a strong start and was second in the standings behind his teammate Reddick for weeks, but has since cooled off a bit. Zilisch came in as a rookie with high expectations, but the Trackhouse prospect has not been performing well, with spins and rough performances in the first seven races.
With NASCAR going back racing this weekend with a series tripleheader at Bristol, fans will be excited to see what teams have implemented over the break to make themselves more competitive for the remainder of the season.
