Three NASCAR drivers have combined to put on a dominant performance at Circuit of the Americas. Kaz Grala, Austin Dillon, and Tyler Reddick swept the World Racing League weekend.
The trio of drivers with a wide range of Cup Series experience joined forces for the eight-hour endurance races. They drove the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing in the GTO class and secured the pole position during the qualifying session on Friday, December 3. They posted a best time of 2:23.777 in their 10-lap session.
1200 miles complete @COTA ✅
Swept the @RaceWRL weekend and had a blast with @TylerReddick and @KazGrala 🏁
With the No. 3 starting at the front of the field, the trio took advantage and turned in a dominant performance during the weekend. Dillon, Reddick, and Grala held off Automatic Racing on Saturday, December 4, and finished the first endurance race with a time of 8:01:52.201. Automatic Racing crossed the start-finish line 1:37.929 behind them.
The performance continued on December 5 with the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet capturing its second checkered flag of the weekend. Dillon, Grala, and Reddick held off 93 other entries in the GTO class and capped off a memorable trip to Texas.
Reddick Has Previously Achieved Some Success at COTA
RCR’s first Cup Series pole on a road course since Dale Earnhardt at Watkins Glen in 1996.
Retweet to congratulate @TylerReddick and the No. 8 team! They’ll start P.1 at @COTA!
The trip to Texas marks the second time that Reddick has won the pole position at Circuit of the Americas. He also did so on May 23 while taking on the road course for the first time as a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
Reddick posted the only lap under 2:13.00 while driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. He turned in a time of 2:12.91, secured the Busch Pole, and joined the late Dale Earnhardt on the list of RCR drivers to secure pole position at a road course. The Intimidator achieved this goal in 1996 at Watkins Glen International.
Reddick started on the pole and continued to contend throughout the rain-shortened road course race. He ultimately captured ninth place overall while Dillon finished 12th. Months later, they secured two separate wins at COTA.
Grala Has Consistently Performed at Road Courses
GettyKaz Grala (left) has multiple top-five finishes at road courses.
The third driver for the WRL weekend has not run a full-time season in the Xfinity Series or Cup Series, but he has contended when provided with the opportunity to make a start. Grala has excelled at a variety of road courses across the three national series, including a seventh-place run at the Daytona Road Course in 2020 while replacing Dillon in the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.
As a part-time Xfinity Series driver, Grala has made a total of eight starts at the various road courses while posting an average finish of 14.9. His list of finishes includes three top-10s and two top-fives, both of which occurred at Road America. Grala finished fifth in 2019 and fourth in 2020 while driving an Xfinity Series car for RCR.
Like Dillon and Reddick, Grala also has competed in a NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas. He joined Young’s Motorsports for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series race at the Texas road course on May 22 and drove the No. 02 entry to a second-place finish behind Todd Gilliland. This outing was his second top-10 of the season, along with an eighth-place finish at the Daytona Road Course.
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3 NASCAR Drivers Combine for Dominant WRL Weekend Sweep