NASCAR Cup: Reddick repeat at EchoPark Speedway

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Call it a Reddick repeat -- Tyler Reddick followed up his Daytona 500 win with a win in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway.

Reddick started on the pole Sunday and led 13 times for 53 laps to become the sixth driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to get back-to-back wins to start the season.

While Reddick was the dominant driver of the day, winning wasn't easy. He crashed on lap 225 -- 36 laps to go -- and it appeared his race was over after leading just a few laps before.

However, Reddick stayed in the race and worked his way up to the top-five during a 15-lap run and found himself on the inside of row two, giving key help to Bubba Wallace in overtime.

"We were back there in 30th after we got collected with the 11. It was definitely really loose and we were able to make a little bit of adjustment on it with the air and whatnot. I don't know, they just kept stacking up in the middle and top lanes, and I just found a way to get back in the top five," Reddick said.

Reddick survived a daring move by Carson Hocevar that put Christopher Bell in the wall and then got help from Chase Briscoe in the following overtime restart to get by Hocevar for the win.

"That's crazy, ain't it? How about that? EchoPark Speedway! I mean, this place over the years, it just puts on some amazing racing. Handling matters here but man, I don't know. I guess determination, always handling," Reddick said. "Cheers to everyone here. Y'all motivate us to pull some crazy stuff like that."

Reddick is the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win back-to-back official points races to start a NASCAR Cup Series season. Looking on for both of the wins was team owner and man of many talents, Michael Jordan.

"I can't say anything. Tyler did an unbelievable job. Both teams did an unbelievable job. I wanted him to win. I feel bad for Bubba, obviously, because he had an unbelievable day, but Tyler drove his a-s off, and I'm very happy for Tyler. I'm very happy for 23XI," Jordan said.

Chase Briscoe finished second after leading three times for 27 laps, notably for 20 laps during the first run in stage three. In the end, he helped Reddick get the win but didn't have the steam to try and go for a win himself.

"Wish I would have been able to have a bigger run to take it three wide and take the lead, but I just couldn't do it, for whatever reason," Briscoe said. "TI would say the one thing that our car lacked all day, was the straightaway speed. It drove good and I could make moves, but it felt like I was slow down the straightaway. Not sure really what else I could have done, truthfully, but still a great result."

After being the show Sunday, Hocevar had to settle for one position worse than show -- fourth -- for his second consecutive top-five finish in the spring Atlanta race. The young driver, cut from the same wool of raising hell and praising the driver his daily road truck is modeled after, was unapologetic about his actions.

"I'm sure I owe people apologies but I think we're all going for spaces and runs and everything. Luckily, all four tires were straight. My toe was knocked out but it still was pretty fast," Hocevar said. "Now I'm going to go mess up a little bit on the road course. You know, not be a total front contender and then hopefully get back going this up-front type of deal at Phoenix."

Bubba Wallace, who Hocevar passed before Reddick snuck by, was in some disbelief but didn't feel too bad afterward.

"I have to go back and see. I didn't think I moved up that much to allow -- to put myself up top, top of three. Unfortunate, but man, what a race car we had today!" Wallace said. "[I told myself all day], 'This car is so fast. Don't do anything to jeopardize a good finish.'"

Wallace finished three spots behind Daniel Suarez, who continued the start of his Spire Motorsports tenure with a top-five finish. Suarez now has six finishes of sixth or better in nine starts on the high-banked configuration of Atlanta.

“Honestly, I thought we were in an amazing spot for that last restart. The No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) was leading the top lane and the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) was in front of me. I thought we were in a beautiful spot to make it work. The No. 97 (Shane van Gisbergen) was on my left side and pushed me wide. I felt like that broke down the top lane a little bit. I’m not sure, but I feel like we could have done a little bit better. I feel like we gave that one away because we were in the perfect spot," Suarez said.

Considering the stats and the momentum, Suarez was still very happy.

"But overall, I’m very, very proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports. I couldn’t be prouder, honestly. This team just continues to fight; continues to show up and continues to get better. They never doubt that we can make the car better. I can’t thank everyone at Chevrolet and the Hendrick Engine Shop for the power under the hood. We just need to keep cleaning a few things up to keep getting better, but very excited for the start of the season," he said.

TOP 10 (LAP 271): Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Zane Smith, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Ryan Blaney.

STAGE ONE TOP 10 (LAP 60): Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Connor Zilisch, Ryan Blaney.

After the first stage went caution-free, stage two saw four cautions. Multiple cars crashed on lap 83 and again on lap 104 before Kyle Busch crashed on lap 126. Then, after a frantic run to the green-white-checkered, Kyle Larson made a poor block on SVG that took the defending Cup champion out on lap 160.

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 160): Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain.

The final stage saw a slew of cautions before it winded its way down to overtime.

Tyler Reddick now has a 40-point lead over 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace:

Next up is Circuit of the Americas for 95 laps around the short course, starting just after 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.