Tyler Reddick came out of nowhere to punch his ticket to the Round of 12 during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
What looked to be a sure-fire victory for Denny Hamlin at Kansas in the closing laps quickly changed in the Hollywood Casino 400 with seven laps to go when playoff contender Chris Buescher blew a right rear tire, sending the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford into the wall and drawing the caution flag.
With the leaders pitting, Hamlin dropped to fourth while Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano gambled with two tires.
The final restart with two laps to go saw Logano and Jones go side-by-side, while Reddick snuck into the picture as the field took the white flag.
Reddick darted low on the two leaders, sweeping into turn one with the lead. From there, Reddick cruised to his second win of the season and locking into the Round of 12.
After digesting the final restart, Reddick was blunt on his vantage point.
“Chaos. It was perfect honestly. We had a really, really good MoneyLion Toyota Camry TRD all day long. Everyone at 23XI – when we come here, we mean business. We didn’t have the outright pace that I think Bubba (Wallace) and Denny (Hamlin) had.
“At times, we were pretty solid, but we were just caught behind them. The caution came, it gave us another opportunity, especially with those cars that stayed out or took two tires.”
The 23XI Racing driver finished runner-up to Kyle Larson last week at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, furthering his positive momentum through the first two races of the NASCAR Playoffs.
“I got lucky, and I was able to get to the top of (turn) three to get to the inside of Kyle Busch,” Reddick recalled. “I was just able to find clean air and was able to carry the momentum onward. It just seemed all day long, when you got beside someone down the frontstretch, this TRD engine would just pull down the straightaways and we would go right by them.”
Restarting fifth, Hamlin managed to vault up to second by the checkered flag. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 63 laps on the day and seemingly had control of the race before the final caution flag flew.
Hamlin described the difference maker on the restart that negated him from challenging for the win.
“Well, the 5 (Larson) was just laying back so much. I was trying to back up to him,” Hamlin said of the last restart. “Should have just kind of focused forward probably. It gave the 45 an opportunity to get up there in front of us. Just kind of sleeping on the restart, looking in the rear view instead of looking in the front.
“Hats off to the Yahoo Camry TRD team, just another really, really fast car, just didn’t need that caution at the end.”
Non-playoff driver Erik Jones wheeled his No. 43 Chevrolet to a strong third-place finish, his second straight top-10 run with Legacy Motor Club.
Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 99 laps during the 268-lap event and won Stage One, finished fourth. Larson’s already locked into the Round of 12 by virtue of his victory at Darlington last week.
Reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano rounded out the top five after a difficult day aboard the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
“It was enough in the sense that we were running 15th when the caution came out,” Logano said of the No. 22 team’s call to take two tires. “Paul [Wolfe] did a good job at making a good call there, and putting us in position. I could see the lead. We were right there. If I was able to just clear the No. 43, it might have looked a little different. But, I couldn’t quite clear him.
“It just allowed [Tyler] Reddick to get a big run once we started getting swallowed up by the four-tire cars. You’re just on defense after that. So, we had our chance into three there, and just wasn’t quite good enough to finish it off there,” Logano continued.
“Overall, I’m glad we had a decent points day. We needed it. We were on the cut-line, or close to it coming in. I don’t know where we are now. Didn’t have the best of stages. So, we’ll fight again at Bristol.”
How The Playoff Drivers Fared
• Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch brought his No. 8 Chevrolet home in seventh to earn his third straight top-11 finish.
• After starting on the pole, JGR’s Christopher Bell managed to finish eighth. RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski slotted behind Bell in ninth. The driver of the No. 6 Ford won Stage Two.
• Just outside the top 10 was Kevin Harvick in 11th, who fought for the lead early on before fading on the final restart.
• Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney placed 12th, while Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain managed to finish 13th after early troubles.
• William Byron wheeled his No. 24 to a mediocre 15th after starting the day in ninth.
• Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got in the wall multiple times before having to pit for an extended period of time. Stenhouse’s day would end in 23rd. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver dropped to 22 points below the cutline.
• It was another frustrating day for Michael McDowell as he finished 26th, one lap down. McDowell is in a must-win situation heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway next week after two races of 26th or worse to begin the Round of 16.
• Running inside the top 10 for most of the day, Buescher was well on his way to another solid performance until a flat tire negated him to 27th.
• Martin Truex Jr.’s day was over in a hurry after slapping the wall hard on lap three due to a loose tire in turn three. Truex’s day would end in last, 36th. The regular season champion dropped from 25 above the cutline to seven points below the final transfer spot.
“Just unfortunate and very unlucky,” Truex said. “I took off really tight and I knew something was up, and then cut a right rear. Not really sure what happened, obviously, but it blew in the worst place possible. I hate it for my guys. We had an awesome Bass Pro Toyota Camry.
“We were going to have a great day, just not sure what we need to do to get some luck here.”
• After running up front early on in the event, Bubba Wallace’s race went south after losing his right rear tire while running second. The 23XI Racing driver was forced to pit, going multiple laps down. He’d finish 32nd.