Tyler Reddick doesn’t sugarcoat it: Homestead-Miami Speedway is among his favorite race tracks. Running centimeters off the wall tests a driver’s ability and focus, but he maximizes lap time at the 1.5-mile oval.
As Reddick entered the final lap of the 267-lap contest at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400, he was running in third position, slightly less than a half-second behind race leader Ryan Blaney and behind his team owner Denny Hamlin.
Then, Reddick put together one of the best final laps in recent memory.
Reddick changed his approach up, diving to the bottom of Hamlin entering Turn 1. He cleared the No. 11 Toyota with ease and was on the back bumper of Blaney entering Turn 3. Blaney fed Reddick the top lane, where the No. 45 car drove in deeper and cleared the No. 12 Ford. Exiting Turn 4, Reddick gapped Blaney by a couple of car lengths and drove to the victory, clinching a spot into the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.
WHAT A WILD FINAL TWO LAPS AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI.
Relive the battle for the win between Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin for a spot in the NASCAR championship race. pic.twitter.com/JfLU59krvx
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 27, 2024
“We were backed in a corner, man,” Reddick told NBC Sports on the frontstretch. “We had no other choice. I know we were on a 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.”
During the final stage, Reddick’s chance of winning looked slim. Crew chief Billy Scott made the only choice that he deemed to give the No. 45 team a chance to win the race and went an entire fuel cycle on tires while others pitted. Two laps after pitting on Lap 252, Kyle Larson spun while battling Blaney to bring out the caution. Reddick had just unlapped himself.
With tire wear at a premium, all lead lap cars pitted, except for Reddick, who stayed out and took the lead. On the restart, Hamlin and Blaney drove by, as Reddick settled in third.
Hamlin controlled the race for a handful of laps before Blaney grabbed the lead with less than two laps remaining. Hamlin dropped to third in the running order after Reddick passed him on the last lap.
“[I] tried to cover all lanes, but just couldn’t quite get off the corner as good as I needed to there on that short run,” Hamlin said in disbelief. “Short run wasn’t my specialty all day, obviously.
“Either way, controlling the race with two to go, you’ve got to try to find a way to finish it. Just didn’t.”
Meanwhile, Blaney will wonder what he could have done differently on the final lap. It looked like he would be making a return visit to the Championship 4 for a second straight season to defend his 2023 championship. And then, Reddick did Reddick things.
“I thought I got into [Turn] 3 hard,” Blaney said in disappointment. “[Reddick] just blitzed off in there. It stuck for him, which is pretty impressive.
“I hate to give one away like that. I don’t know if we gave it away. I mean, we got the lead back after losing on the restart. Yeah, just the last bit didn’t really play out for us. Definitely stinks.”
Reddick was in shock when his move to the outside worked, though it looked akin to when he won consecutive Xfinity Series championships in 2018 and 2019 when he was ripping the wall through the corners.
“I just knew I needed to get to even with [Blaney] on his right side door,” he said. “I didn’t care what he did. He raced me clean. I appreciate it.
“Just really, really excited that we’re going to get to have a shot at this championship.”
The victory solidified 23XI Racing’s first trip to the Championship 4 in just its fourth season. Reddick also delivered the team its first regular season championship this season, scoring a pair of victories through the opening 26 races of the season.
Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI, was thrilled with his driver.
“Little kid drove his ass off. I’m proud of him,” Jordan told NBC Sports. “He just let go. He just went for it and I’m glad. We needed it.”
With the points resetting, the reality stings a bit more for Blaney, who now enters the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway 38 markers below the elimination line.