Asterisk Mark Report – Auto Club
Tyler Reddick – Tyler Reddick had a hot rod last year at Auto Club, and by default, most would argue he was the best. In the race, Reddick won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 90 laps and fielded the fastest car on the track in segments 1,2 and 3. Unfortunately, Reddick’s afternoon wasn’t incident free. On lap 151 while leading, Reddick had a flat tire and then Byron plowed into him which led to his 24th.
Check out this chart of Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and William Byron from X-Ray in 2022.
William Byron – Last year at Auto Club, William Byron finished 34th but like a few other drivers in this post, a case could be made that he potentially had the best car. In the race, Byron started 10th, finished 3rd in Stage #1, and then in Stage #2 on lap 100, he passed Tyler Reddick for the lead under green and led the next 13 laps, but then during a caution while leading, Byron had a slow stop (pit gun issue) that dropped him back to 17th. When Stage #2 ended, Byron finished 9th. Then in the last Stage while running in 6th on lap 151, Tyler Reddick had a flat tire and Byron then crashed into him.
Chase Elliott – Last year at Auto Club, a strong case could be made that Chase Elliott had the best car but his afternoon was anything but incident free. In the race, Elliott had problems early while leading (got into the wall on lap 33, spun a few laps later), and then late after rebounding while battling for the lead (179). If Elliott’s race would’ve been incident free, I think there’s no doubt he was going to be tough to beat.
Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney was a top five contender last year at Auto Club, but multiple slow pit stops did him in and led to his asterisk mark 18th. In the race, Blaney finished 8th in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2 and had a 6.9 average running position. With 12 laps to go, Blaney was running in 5th. Then a final pit stop dropped him to 10th coming off pit road, and then wild scrambling at the end drop kicked him to 18th.
