Tyler Reddick gets first Super Speedway win at Talladega
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Tyler Reddick prevailed in a typically frantic Talladega Superspeedway run to the checkered flag Sunday in the GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race, narrowly avoiding a multi-car crash in the closing 400 yards and coming from third place out of Turn 4 to earn the win by 0.208 seconds when race leader Michael McDowell crashed trying to block competitors approaching the finish line. Reddick maneuvered around in the high lane to motor through to his first victory of the year and sixth of his career.
The 28-year-old Californian climbed the grandstand fence, pumping his fist to the screaming, adoring crowd while one of his 23XI Racing team owners, NBA legend Michael Jordan celebrated on pit lane, taking Reddick’s young son Beau in his arms and grinning from ear-to-ear. This was the first time Jordan had been at track when his team won a race.
“Man, it’s incredible,” said Reddick, who led 13 laps on the afternoon. “Everyone on this 45 Toyota Camry worked really hard today. Didn’t really work out in that third stage for us, but we were able to fight and defend our track position.
“Was that crazy guys?” he yelled toward the cheering grandstands. “A lot of chaos. That’s Talladega for you.”
“I just have to give a lot of credit to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex [Jr.], it was just us Toyotas left and they pushed me with everything they had. Without Martin and Ty and those pushes we don’t win this race.”
The final few laps pitted a low line of Fords — the manufacturer trying to earn its first win of 2024 — and a high line led by the Toyotas. McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, anticipated a huge run from the cars behind, but conceded later that he was just a little late making the block.
The contact when he pulled down to Roush Fenway Keselowski driver Brad Keselowski sent McDowell’s car off track. Keselowski was still able to recover and finish second — his second straight runner-up finish this season. Afterward, McDowell apologized to Keselowski for essentially costing the former series champion a win with the move.
“We did a good job keeping those Mustang Dark Horses up front,” said McDowell, who led a race-best 36 laps. “He [Keselowski] did everything right. He pushed me. I was able to get in front of him the first time, but when I came back down I barely wasn’t clear. I’ll have to watch the replay. I hate it. I hate it we didn’t make it to the finish line. We had such a fast Mustang today. … just came up short and took a lot of guys out and I apologize.”
The race ending was in stark contrast to the early portion of the event. For the first time since NASCAR instituted stage racing in 2017, there were no caution periods through the opening two stages (other than the scheduled stage breaks).
McDowell won the pole position and as promised all weekend, was set to race strategically not forcing his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford to the front all day but instead when it needed to be there. There was a lot of hope that Ford would secure its first win of the year Sunday and two of the Mustangs — driven by Austin Cindric (Stage 1) and Joey Logano (Stage 2) — swept the stage victories early in the race.
But as is so often the case, a late-race restart — with 27 laps remaining — set the tone for the finish with McDowell leading the bottom line and Fords stacked up behind him. Reddick led the high line with Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. behind him. McDowell and Reddick exchanged the lead 10 times in that final 27-lap stretch to the trophy — indicative of a day when there were 23 race leaders and 73 lead changes, including New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen’s first NASCAR Cup Series laps out front on an oval (three laps).
It was an exhaustive and exhilarating afternoon depending on what side of the finishing order you came out on. All the drivers — including several collected in the multicar race-ending crash — confirmed they were OK.
“Well, [team co-owner] Denny [Hamlin] keeps saying I’m bad luck,” Jordan said, “And today we proved him wrong.
“The whole team did a good job,” he continued. “I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody always tells me when we win we have a good celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here [for a win].
“As you know this is NBA playoffs right now and to me, this is like an NBA playoff game. I am so ecstatic for the fans who support the sport itself. You know we’ve been working hard trying to get ourselves to compete against all the top guys in this sport. And we’ve done a heckuva job just to be where we are and for us to win and win a big race like this, it means so much to me and the effort the team has put in.
“I’m all-in. It replaces a lot of competitiveness I had in basketball, but this is even worse because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I’d have total control, but I have no control and live vicariously through the drivers and crew chiefs. I’m very happy for 23 XI — 110 percent.”
Hamlin, who finished 37th after being collected in a crash, smiled upon hearing Jordan’s elation and Beau Reddick’s celebration with the legend.
“Beau has no idea (yet) of the significance of that moment,” Hamlin said.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson finished a career-best third, followed by JTG Daugherty’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman.
Anthony Alfredo, who led four laps, finished a career-best sixth place for Beard Motorsports. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was seventh, followed by Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley and the Wood Brothers’ Harrison Burton.
Despite a 20th-place finish Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings by 16 points over Truex, who was 11th Sunday.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Dover Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Würth 400 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Truex is the defending race winner.
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Tyler Reddick as the winner. The Nos. 17 and 48 will be taken back to the R&D Center for wind tunnel testing. The No. 43 will return to the R&D Center for further evaluation.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the GEICO 500 - Sunday, April 21, 2024
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 188 Laps - 500.08 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 4/21/2024 @ 08:16 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 18 45 Tyler Reddick Jordan Brand Toyota 188 9 6 47 Running 5 13 5
2 22 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 188 8 38 Running 2 2
3 36 10 Noah Gragson Overstock.com Ford 188 34 Running 5 5
4 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Boost/Thomas'/Philadelphia Chevrolet 188 33 Running
5 12 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 188 10 33 Running
6 24 62 * Anthony Alfredo(i) Dude Wipes Chevrolet 188 0 Running 3 4
7 13 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 188 3 38 Running
8 3 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Ford 188 29 Running
9 19 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 188 28 Running 3 8
10 16 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 188 6 32 Running
11 6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 188 26 Running 5 16
12 26 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 188 25 Running 2 3
13 32 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet 188 5 30 Running 3 6
14 11 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 188 9 25 Running
15 9 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 188 2 8 34 Running 3 5
16 29 4 Josh Berry # Overstock.com Ford 188 21 Running 1 3
17 35 77 Carson Hocevar # Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 188 20 Running 1 1
18 31 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 188 19 Running
19 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 188 1 28 Running 6 22 1
20 21 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 188 4 24 Running 1 1
21 38 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 188 3 24 Running
22 15 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 188 10 16 Running 1 1
23 2 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 188 1 2 33 Running 4 16 1
24 34 15 Cody Ware Jacob Construction Ford 188 13 Running
25 8 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 188 7 16 Running 4 6
26 25 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 188 11 Running
27 4 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Chevrolet 188 5 16 Running 2 4
28 17 16 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Wendy's Chevrolet 188 0 Running 3 3
29 30 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 188 8 Running
30 5 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 188 4 14 Running
31 1 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 187 6 Accident 7 36
32 37 78 * BJ McLeod(i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 187 0 Running 4 5
33 20 42 John Hunter Nemechek AdventHealth Toyota 184 4 Running 3 20
34 27 51 Justin Haley Parts Plus Ford 184 3 Running 2 4
35 28 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 154 2 Accident
36 14 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 154 1 Accident
37 23 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ultimate Fan Contest Toyota 154 1 Accident 3 4
38 10 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 132 7 5 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 13 Mins, 29 Secs. Average Speed: 155.977 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.208 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 9, 24, 12, 8, 21, 20, 6, 45, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 2, 5, 3, 1, 45, 17, 9, 41, 54
Caution Flags: 4 for 21 laps; Laps: 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [5]); 122-126 (Stage 2 Conclusion [71]); 134-139 (#20, 14, 51, 71, 12 Incident Turn 3 [71]); 157-161 (#42, 43, 23, 11 Incident Turn 3 [78]).
Lead Changes: 72 among 23 drivers; M. McDowell 0; M. McDowell 1; A. Cindric 2; M. McDowell 3-4; A. Cindric 5; M. Truex Jr. 6; D. Hemric 7-9; *. McLeod(i) 10; D. Hemric 11-14; C. Briscoe 15-16; J. Haley 17-18; M. Truex Jr. 19-21; J. Haley 22-23; M. Truex Jr. 24-31; *. McLeod(i) 32-33; M. Truex Jr. 34-35; *. McLeod(i) 36; M. Truex Jr. 37-38; *. McLeod(i) 39; C. Briscoe 40; N. Gragson 41; C. Elliott 42-43; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 44; B. Keselowski 45; C. Elliott 46-47; A. Cindric 48-51; C. Elliott 52; A. Cindric 53-62; B. Keselowski 63; K. Busch 64-66; R. Blaney 67; K. Busch 68; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 69; *. Alfredo(i) 70; N. Gragson 71; J. Nemechek 72-78; N. Gragson 79; J. Nemechek 80; *. Alfredo(i) 81; J. Nemechek 82-93; D. Hamlin 94; C. Buescher 95; N. Gragson 96; C. Buescher 97; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 98; C. Buescher 99-101; J. Logano 102-105; D. Hamlin 106; J. Logano 107-108; D. Hamlin 109-110; J. Logano 111-113; C. Buescher 114; J. Logano 115-122; T. Gibbs 123; J. Logano 124-126; R. Chastain 127-128; J. Logano 129-130; R. Chastain 131; N. Gragson 132; R. Chastain 133-135; *. Alfredo(i) 136-137; J. Berry # 138-140; D. Hemric 141; M. McDowell 142-157; C. Hocevar # 158; T. Reddick 159-162; M. McDowell 163-170; T. Reddick 171; M. McDowell 172-174; T. Reddick 175; M. McDowell 176-177; T. Reddick 178; M. McDowell 179-182; T. Reddick 183-188.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: April 28, 2024 - Dover Motor Speedway
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