KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tyler Reddick scraped the outside wall in the closing laps. His fuel system stumbled at a critical moment. He collided with fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell in overtime. He fell behind defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson on the final restart.
Yet, in a magical season for the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, Reddick won Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in spite of all the adversity.
The catalyst was Cody Ware’s spin on Lap 266, the penultimate circuit of the scheduled regulation distance. That incident caused the third caution of the race one lap after Denny Hamlin had retaken the lead from Reddick, who switched to pump 2 in his Camry after the car sputtered with two laps left.
Ware’s spin sent the race to overtime, and all 16 cars on the lead lap came to pit road for tires, with Hamlin, Reddick, Larson, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and five cars behind them taking right-side tires only.
Moments after the overtime restart on Lap 273, Larson steered to the inside of Hamlin on the bottom row and charged into the lead. Reddick fell back after his contact with Bell’s Toyota forced Bell into the outside wall.
But the outside lane opened up for Reddick, whose handling was superior to Larson’s in the overtime. Reddick mustered a huge run in the top lane, then drove to the inside of Larson’s Chevrolet, which tightened up on corner entry.
Reddick cleared Larson through the final two corners and crossed the finish line 0.118 seconds ahead of the reigning champion.
“Just really blessed with the late caution,” said Reddick, who won for the fifth time this season, the second time at Kansas and the 13th time in his career. “Was that nuts or what? I couldn’t believe it.
“I mean, first off, I feel like I have to say obviously just for how I feel. I never like being on the inside of it—really hate that for Christopher Bell. Good, hard racing. The 11 (Hamlin) came up. I mean, I took off tight. Not thrilled I got Christopher there. I hate that for him because he was having a good, solid day.
“Man, these late race restarts get crazy. I obviously had a run on the 5 (Larson). I was shocked I was able to get to his inside there. An incredible SupplyHouse Toyota Camry all day long.”
Reddick is the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987—and fourth all-time—to win five of the first nine races of a season in NASCAR’s top division. His series lead increased to 105 points over second-place Hamlin, who won the first stage.
NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Hamlin, was elated with the victory.
“This kid is on fire,” said Jordan, who has witnessed all five of Reddick’s victories this season in person. “I don’t know how I can ever cool him down. He is unbelievable. Unbelievable last couple laps. I’m proud of the whole team.”
Larson, who led 78 laps and won the second stage, executed the overtime restart to perfection but couldn’t hold the lead.
“I got to the lead, and I thought I could cruise right there to the checkered flag, but my balance on two tires was just super, super tight,” said Larson, whose winless streak grew to 33 races. “I didn’t get through (Turns) 3 and 4 fast enough, and then the No. 45 (Reddick) had such a big run on me from behind.
“I thought I could go to the top to get some load into my front tires, but it still didn’t turn there. That was a bummer, but just overall happy with the day we had.”
Chase Briscoe finished third on four new tires, with Hamlin and Wallace running fourth and fifth, respectively. Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
Bell, who led 47 laps, spun coming to the white flag in overtime and finished 20th.
Hamlin led a race-high 131 laps and was positioned for the victory until Ware’s spin.
“I mean, obviously it’s not winning,” Hamlin said of the way the race played out. “It’s Cody Ware, six laps down, wrecking. I don’t know. It just added up.
“I fell for the same move that the 5 (Larson) got me a couple years ago when I was on the inside. I got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps.”
