CHICAGO — Tyler Reddick had lived this story before. The No. 45 Toyota was the fastest car on the track in the waning laps of Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course.
Similarly to how the 2024 Chicago race ended with Reddick chasing down Alex Bowman in the closing moments with time expiring, he was using fresher tires to his advantage in 2025. Shane van Gisbergen was on cruise control throughout the final stage, until Reddick began marching through the field.
The penultimate caution of the race flew on Lap 59 for a medical emergency as an ambulance needed to cross the course. That allowed Reddick’s No. 45 crew chief Billy Scott to call an audible from his one-stop strategy that he was applying.
Restarting outside the top 15 with less than 15 laps remaining, Reddick began his late-race charge. It got put on hold by the end of Turns 1 and 2 of the ensuing restart, as Ross Chastain and Joey Logano tangled, collecting a few innocent bystanders. That delayed Reddick’s pace, costing him valuable time.
“We got through Turn 1 okay, but the [Nos.] 2 and 17, some other cars had damage,” Reddick said after the race. “[Ricky Stenhouse Jr.] got spun around on the driver’s left of Turn 2 and got some toe link damage or something on the left rear so lost some braking ability, so that’s when we lost some track position to the [Nos.] 19, the 42, some of those other cars that were on the same tire strategy as us. So we had to work our way back through them.
“There was other cars throughout the field on the way up that were difficult, but I understand it. You’re racing to the end of the race. But again, when others open that door and block aggressively or use you up, then when you’re on fresher tires, it’s pretty easy to be aggressive back.”
Reddick made quick work of most of the competition during his rally. He entered the top five at ease and was on the heels of Ty Gibbs for the runner-up spot when the caution flew on the final lap for Cody Ware having a brake rotor explode and pile nose deep into the Turn 6 tire barriers. Van Gisbergen was the victor.
Extending his lead to multiple seconds, van Gisbergen knew Reddick had the quickest car on the course. He was more distressed about the No. 45 car than Gibbs who was on the same tire strategy as the No. 88 car.
“I think Tyler Reddick was the one I was worried about,” van Gisbergen said after his triumph. “There was a tire carcass on the exit of [Turn] 6, and there was a yellow flag, or a blue flag they have here. And when they didn’t put it out for two laps, I figured they were just doing everything they could to get the race finished before the lightning hold.
“When I got the white flag, I came around the next couple of corners and the yellow came out. It was a massive relief, but you never know if they’re going to throw the yellow and try and have an exciting finish.”
The finish reminded Reddick of how the 2024 race concluded. This year, though one spot lower in the finishing order, it had similar tendencies to how last year’s event played out.
“Each year we’ve been here, the situation has kind of been the same,” Reddick noted. “We’ve had some sort of tire advantage all three years and just come up a little bit short. The first year obviously we came up big short because I just drove it in the tire barrier into [Turn] 6.
“But this time around, the last five, six laps were really good. Had to be aggressive. A lot of those cars on older tires weren’t wanting to give up the spot, but when you’re on those newer tires you’ve got to go because you’re hoping you’re able to run the leader down. It’s truly hard to say how much the [No.] 88 was coasting there, but we were catching him at a pretty good pace, and I think with two or three to go he picked it up a little bit, and we were still faster.”
The third-place finish for Reddick gives the No. 45 team consecutive top five finishes for the first time since last summer when he rattled off three straight between Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. He gained one spot in the regular-season championship battle, passing Christopher Bell for fifth. He chopped 50 points off William Byron’s lead and is now 48 points out of first place with seven races remaining.