Tyler Reddick Emerges Victorious in Electric Homestead Finish
It's hard to formulate the words to describe what took place on the final lap of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but I think the closest I can come to describing it is to simply say Tyler Reddick wanted the win more than anyone else.
Despite finding himself on a different strategy from the race leaders on the final round of pit stops, which put him on older tires than the field on the final restart of the race, the 28-year-old driver of the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, a team co-owned by NBA Legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup Playoff contending driver Denny Hamlin, didn't give up.
Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead
RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings After Homestead
"I don't know," Reddick said when asked how he was able to pull off the dramatic victory. "We were backed in a corner, man. We had no other choice. I know we were on tire deficit. Here at Homestead Miami Speedway, that's a death sentence. I don't care. We did what it took to win this race. We're fighting for a championship."
With one lap to go, Reddick found himself stuck in the third position behind race leader Ryan Blaney, and his team owner Hamlin. If Reddick wanted any chance of winning the race, he'd have to quickly work his way around Hamlin. He was able to do that in Turns 1 and 2.
The California native got a big run down the backstretch as he stalked Blaney's No. 12 machine. Reddick then fired his car into the outside lane heading into the final set of Turns of Sunday's race. It looked like there was no way in the world that the car would stick, as Reddick's car was visibly carrying so much more speed than Blaney's.
TYLER REDDICK PASSES RYAN BLANEY IN THE FINAL CORNER!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 27, 2024
HE WINS AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI AND IS GOING TO THE NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP! pic.twitter.com/GtgwGyY6jb
Somehow, it stuck. Reddick would blow by Blaney, who looked to be marching toward a defense of his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title. Blaney will have to try to pull that off next weekend at Martinsville Speedway as Sunday's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway belonged to Reddick.
As Reddick surged past Blaney, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang didn't attempt to side draft or door Reddick to slow down his momentum. He knew he was beat, and he took the loss in stride. Reddick appreciated that a lot.
"I couldn't believe it," Reddick said of the move working. "I just knew I needed to get to even with him on his right side door. I didn't care what he did. He raced me clean. I appreciate it."
The win will advance Reddick, who won the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship earlier this year to the Championship 4 for the first time in his five-year NASCAR Cup Series career. It'll also be the first Championship 4 appearance for Jordan's 23XI Racing team, which was founded ahead of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“Little kid drove his ass off.”
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 27, 2024
Michael Jordan and Tyler Reddick are going to the NASCAR Championship together. One as an owner. The other as a driver. pic.twitter.com/Z5XiMWqPir
"Little kid drove his ass off. I'm proud of him," Jordan, a six-time NBA Finals champion said of Reddick after the race.
Of the race-winning move on the final lap, Jordan explained, "Oh, man, he just let go. He just went for it and I'm glad. We needed it. We needed it."
The 23XI Racing team, along with Front Row Motorsports team are currently embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR stemming from the two-plus years of Charter Agreement negotiations between the sanctioning body and the team owners. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the two holdouts from signing the deal back in September.
But that's another story for another day, for now, the focus is on a NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Blaney finished runner-up to Reddick by 0.241 seconds in what turned out to be a string of six NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders at the front of the field. Hamlin would hold on to finish third, while Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and William Byron finished fourth through sixth.
Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar, Ryan Preece, and Josh Berry rounded out the top-10 finishers on the day.
Kyle Larson was one of just two Playoff contenders to finish outside of the top-10, and it was a rough day for the NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite. On Lap 48, Larson caught the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4, and cut a tire down.
Larson running around the track on a flat tire damaged the underbody and diffuser on his car, and the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 went from being a contender for the race win to just trying to minimize the damage he'd sustain in the points on the day.
After struggling to crack back inside of the top-15 through the end of Stage 1, and Stage 2, Larson's car finally came to life in the final Stage as he was in the mix for the win in the closing laps.
However, while pressuring Ryan Blaney for the race lead in a three-wide battle with the lapped car of Austin Dillon, Larson lost control of his car and went for a spin in Turn 4. Luckily, Larson didn't lose much track position with the spin, but would lose six positions on the following pit stop under yellow, and he wouldn't be able to recover on the final restart of the race as he finished a disappointing 13th.
Larson now exits Homestead-Miami Speedway seven points below the cutline.
The other Playoff contender to finish outside of the top-10 on Sunday was Joey Logano, who finished a subpar 28th, but it doesn't affect Logano's chances at a championship. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang won last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to secure his place in the Championship 4 field.
On the strength of his fourth-place finish on Sunday, Bell leaves Homestead the highest in the Playoff standings of any driver not locked into the Championship 4 at 29 points above the cutline. Byron, who finished sixth, is the final driver above the cutline at seven points ahead of Larson.
Hamlin (-18 points), Blaney (-38), and Elliott (-43) find themselves in a precarious position below the Playoff cutline heading into the final race of the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs next weekend.
Next weekend's race, the Xfinity 500 will be contested at the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway short track in Martinsville, Virginia. That race is set for Sunday, November 3 and will be televised on NBC beginning at 2:00 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the live radio broadcast of the event.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.