Brake issues hurt 23XI Racing in NASCAR Cup race at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. — Brake issues took all three 23XI Racing drivers out of contention to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.
All three drivers survived the first, 30-lap stage just fine. Then, on lap 43, Riley Herbst blew a brake rotor entering turn one and smacked the outside wall. Herbst went to the DVP area but the team ruled him out of the race — in 37th — after assessing the damage.
Then, 12 laps later, on lap 55, 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace blew a brake rotor and slammed the outside wall in turn two. Before he could even get to pit road, Wallace put the window net down.
Two issues within 23XI Racing raised concerns for Tyler Reddick. His team dialed back the brakes to the least aggressive settings possible to ensure maximum reliability. That dropped him from contending for stage points to 30th on lap 76.
On lap 76, a caution flew for debris from an exploded brake rotor Michael McDowell experienced three laps earlier. McDowell fell out of the race after radio chatter indicated they couldn’t replace the brake rotors.
Nine laps later, with issues rumbling, Reddick went to the garage to work on the brakes. Remarkably, he only lost a lap for the repair. However, he went two laps down after pitting again with a right-front tire issue.
Reddick gained a lap under caution on lap 126. He ran 32nd after the caution but couldn’t challenge Shane van Gisbergen for the free pass to get back on the lead lap. Because of this, his team brought him to pit road to try and get a bonus point for running the fastest lap of the race. While it didn’t work, Reddick still earned eight bonus points in stage one despite finishing 32nd.
McDowell, Wallace and Herbst weren’t as fortunate. They finished 35th through 37th and didn’t earn any stage points.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com