2 weeks Ago By Samuel Stubbs, Yardbarker
NASCAR has always been capable of providing moments that are truly poetic. From Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s emotional win in the 2001 Pepsi 400 to the chaos of the final lap of the 1979 Daytona 500, the world's premier stock-car racing organization has always found a way to sprinkle in moments that perfectly weave into the story the sport is telling during that particular season.
2024 has been a season defined by two major storylines: Chaos and the controversial NASCAR charter agreement, along with the subsequent lawsuit that followed. When it was announced on Oct. 2 that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were suing NASCAR, any and all talk about the ongoing chase for the championship was suddenly put on hold.
With the NASCAR world suddenly focused on the depths of the courtroom rather than the garage area, a feel-good story, complete with another one of those magical moments where racing transcends sport, was desperately needed. 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick delivered one of those moments on Sunday with a move that will have fans talking for decades. With as little as 14 laps to go in Sunday's race, Reddick wasn't even in the race-winning conversation.
A Hail Mary strategy from crew chief Billy Scott didn't quite pan out, forcing Reddick to pit from the lead with 15 laps to go. While Reddick had fresh tires, he had little time to do anything but gain any position he could. However, Kyle Larson spun with 13 laps to go, bringing out the caution flag and putting Reddick in the catbird's seat.
Reddick stayed out under the caution flag — a strategy made available due to the pit stop Reddick made just two laps prior to the caution — and led the field back to the green flag on the race's final restart. However, after a strong move from Denny Hamlin, it appeared that Reddick's hopes of a victory were over. A top-five day would still be good, but not quite good enough for a team that needed a win to make the Championship Four.
Ryan Blaney passed Hamlin for the lead with two laps to go, but as far as Reddick was concerned, the winner of the race didn't matter unless it was him. Reddick eventually passed Hamlin to take second place, but it looked as if he would still come up one spot shy of victory. That was until the South Florida seas split as Reddick entered Turn 3 on the final lap, as Blaney ran the middle of the racetrack in hope of keeping Reddick at bay.
With a lead foot and the ability to run the top of the track better than any driver in NASCAR, Reddick flew around Blaney in the final corner, paving the way for his third win of the season and a Championship Four berth at Phoenix. INSANITY!! TYLER REDDICK WINS AT HOMESTEAD! #NASCARPLAYOFFS pic.twitter.
com/YX631hRiS8 "We knew we needed a caution at the end. Anything can happen after that," 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan (yes, that Michael Jordan) told NBC Sports . "Little kid (Reddick) drove his a-- off.
I'm proud of him. We needed it." At a time in the sport where all the talk surrounding 23XI is an ugly legal situation dominating the news cycle, Reddick's victory signifies all the good currently happening in NASCAR.
At the end of the day, Sunday's race was an incredible display of racing at one of NASCAR's best tracks that saw a flashy new team take the victory and advance to the Championship Four for the first time. Sometimes, a simple story about racing is all that needs to be talked about..
