2 weeks Ago
Tyler Reddick made a last-lap charge to pass Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 for the first time. The 23XI Racing driver went around the outside of Blaney at the final corner to ensure the team owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan will be able to fight for the title in Phoenix. "Little kid drove his ass off," said Jordan in the immediate aftermath.
"We were backed into a corner," added Reddick, pointing to the fact he was on older tyres than his rivals in the closing stages. "We had no other choice. I know we were on a tyre deficit and here at Homestead, that's a death sentence.
But I don't care. We did what it took to win this race. We're fighting for a championship.
" Blaney finished second and Hamlin third with both now facing a likely must-win situation in the penultimate race at Martinsville. Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott followed as playoff drivers locked out the top six - William Byron right behind Elliott. The finish was initially set up to be a showdown between Blaney and Kyle Larson, who had recovered from an early cut tyre to challenge for the win, with Reddick having pitted from the lead with 15 laps to go.
He had run long while hoping for a caution that never came. But as the leaders were navigating slower traffic two laps later, Larson pulled alongside Blaney and the two drivers made contact. Larson spun sideways to trigger a caution, setting up a final sprint to the finish.
The race restarted with eight laps left, with Blaney aggressively blocking Elliott, allowing Hamlin to jump from fourth to the lead. Blaney fought back and dived below the #11 to retake the ascendency. But Reddick was lurking right behind them as the white flag flew.
He threw his car to the low-line into Turn 1, clearing his boss in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Blaney chose the middle of the track entering Turn 3 but this time, Reddick went high, rocketing past the defending Cup Series champion and crossing the line 0.241s ahead.
Reddick joins Joey Logano as the only two drivers locked into the Championship 4. Christopher Bell is 29 points clear as the next provisional title fighter with William Byron seven points back. Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott are all in the elimination zone.
NASCAR Cup Series - Homestead-Miami race results Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points 1 T. Reddick 23XI Racing 45 Toyota 267 3:05'43.926 9 57 2 R.
Blaney Team Penske 12 Ford 267 +0.241 3:05'44.167 0.
241 11 48 3 D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 267 +0.568 3:05'44.
494 0.327 11 48 4 C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 267 +1.
499 3:05'45.425 0.931 11 46 5 C.
Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 267 +1.637 3:05'45.563 0.
138 11 49 6 W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 267 +2.346 3:05'46.
272 0.709 11 39 7 A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 267 +2.
763 3:05'46.689 0.417 11 32 8 A.
Allmendinger Kaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 267 +2.983 3:05'46.909 0.
220 11 9 C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 267 +3.247 3:05'47.
173 0.264 11 37 10 R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 267 +4.
282 3:05'48.208 1.035 11 29 11 J.
Berry Stewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 267 +4.607 3:05'48.533 0.
325 11 26 12 C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 267 +4.819 3:05'48.
745 0.212 11 25 13 K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 267 +4.
964 3:05'48.890 0.145 13 24 14 M.
McDowell Front Row Motorsports 34 Ford 267 +5.209 3:05'49.135 0.
245 11 23 15 C. Buescher RFK Racing 17 Ford 267 +5.357 3:05'49.
283 0.148 12 22 16 D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 267 +5.
515 3:05'49.441 0.158 11 21 17 B.
Keselowski RFK Racing 6 Ford 267 +5.772 3:05'49.698 0.
257 11 20 18 B. Wallace 23XI Racing 23 Toyota 267 +6.225 3:05'50.
151 0.453 11 28 19 N. Gragson Stewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 267 +6.
305 3:05'50.231 0.080 11 18 20 T.
Gilliland Front Row Motorsports 38 Ford 267 +6.474 3:05'50.400 0.
169 10 17 21 R. Stenhouse Jr JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 267 +6.672 3:05'50.
598 0.198 11 16 22 E. Jones Legacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 267 +6.
947 3:05'50.873 0.275 10 15 23 M.
Truex Jr Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 267 +6.973 3:05'50.899 0.
026 12 19 24 H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 267 +7.147 3:05'51.
073 0.174 12 13 25 A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 267 +7.
465 3:05'51.391 0.318 11 12 26 J.
Nemechek Legacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 267 +7.522 3:05'51.448 0.
057 11 11 27 A. Cindric Team Penske 2 Ford 267 +14.511 3:05'58.
437 6.989 9 10 28 J. Logano Team Penske 22 Ford 267 +16.
412 3:06'00.338 1.901 9 9 29 D.
Hemric Kaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 267 +17.018 3:06'00.944 0.
606 11 8 30 Z. Smith Spire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet 267 +17.564 3:06'01.
490 0.546 10 7 31 K. Busch Richard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 267 +17.
588 3:06'01.514 0.024 10 6 32 K.
Grala Rick Ware Racing 15 Ford 267 +19.618 3:06'03.544 2.
030 9 5 33 R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 267 +19.620 3:06'03.
546 0.002 10 4 34 J. Haley Spire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 266 +1 Lap 3:06'02.
005 1 Lap 10 3 35 C. Lajoie Rick Ware Racing 51 Ford 266 +1 Lap 3:06'09.946 7.
941 11 2 36 T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota 261 +6 Laps 3:05'58.297 5 Laps 12 1 37 C.
Finchum MBM 66 Ford 258 +9 Laps 3:06'10.049 3 Laps 10 38 J. Yeley NY Racing Team 44 Chevrolet 223 +44 Laps 2:38'36.
658 35 Laps 10.
