Tyler Reddick secures Championship Four spot in thrilling win at Homestead
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — In the most dramatic Playoff race of the 2024 season – featuring three different leaders in the final three laps – 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick made a clutch pass out of Turn 4 on the last lap to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday when it counted most.
Reddick passed his team owner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin with two laps to go then moved high up against the wall to pass Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in the final corner to claim the Straight Talk Wireless 400 trophy and secure a position in the Championship Four in two weeks in the Phoenix Raceway season finale.
His team owner, NBA Legend Michael Jordan raised his arms and cheered loudly from pit lane as Reddick celebrated on the frontstretch after the race, “Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off and I’m proud of him,” exclaimed Jordan. “He didn’t let go, he just went for it and we needed it. We needed it.”
After getting a huge hug from Jordan, Reddick – the Regular Season Champion – was all smiles, proud of his move and his 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota team – which put him out front for a race best 97 of the 267 laps – and ultimately handed him the chance at the win after a late race caution flag forced a restart with only seven laps remaining. It marks his eighth career series’ win and third of the season.
“I don’t know, we were backed in a corner and had no other choice – I knew we were on a tire deficit and here at Homestead that’s a death sentence, but I didn’t care,” Reddick said of moving back into the lead after being passed in a four-wide move on the re-start only to work his way back to the point in the final six laps.
Because he had just pit for tires four laps before that final caution flag, Reddick actually was positioned on the front row for that re-start – the only driver who stayed out during that final pit cycle because he had just pit for fresh tires four laps earlier. He restarted on the front row alongside Blaney but was fourth a lap later in the frenzied final run.
“We did what it took to win this race and we’re fighting for a championship,” said the 28-year-old Californian, who became only the second driver in 22 years to win at Homestead from pole position.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he added of the pass “I just knew I needed to get even with him on his right side door and he raced me clean and I appreciate it. I’m just really, really excited having a shot at the championship.”
While the win vaulted Reddick to an automatic Playoff berth, it left both Blaney and Hamlin in must-win positions heading into next week’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Team Penske’s Joey Logano claimed the first Championship Four entry last week at Las Vegas and with Reddick’s victory Sunday only two positions are still available for the race for the 2024 title.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who finished fourth Sunday, leads the points standings and holds a 27-point edge on the Playoff cutoff line. Sunday’s sixth-place finisher, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is in that fourth and final transfer position in the standings with a 7-point cushion over Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Kyle Larson.
JGR’s Hamlin is now sixth, 18 points back. The reigning series champion Blaney is seventh, 38 points behind Byron and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, who finished fifth at Homestead, is ranked eighth, 43 points below the cutoff line.
“Obviously, it’s disappointment – had a great shot to win and didn’t have a very good last lap,” Blaney said. “Man, I thought I got into [turn] three hard and the 45 [Reddick] just blitzed up in there and it stuck for him which is very impressive.
“Hate to give one away like that, although I don’t know if we gave it away. Got the lead back after losing it on the re-start and just last lap just didn’t play out for us. Just really stinks. I appreciate everyone on the 12-team for bringing a really fast race car. We had a really fast race car and I had a really great shot to go to Phoenix and still have one more chance.”
Byron placed sixth Sunday, followed by his Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger was eighth with Spire Motorsports rookie Carson Hocevar and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece rounding out the top-10.
The final opportunity for drivers to secure a position in the Championship Four comes in next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Blaney is the defending race winner and Byron won there this Spring.
Of note, Elliott, Blaney and Bell all have past wins at Martinsville to land Championship Four berths.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 34
Race Results for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 - Sunday, October 27, 2024
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 10/27/2024 @ 06:02 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 45 Tyler Reddick (P) The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota 267 1 4 57 Running 8 97 6
2 20 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 267 4 5 48 Running 7 47
3 4 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Mavis Tire Toyota 267 7 1 48 Running 3 21 1
4 3 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem Toyota 267 6 3 46 Running 2 3
5 7 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 267 3 2 49 Running 6 81
6 25 24 William Byron (P) Valvoline Chevrolet 267 8 6 39 Running
7 11 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 267 9 32 Running
8 32 16 AJ Allmendinger(i) Worldwide Express Chevrolet 267 10 0 Running
9 15 77 Carson Hocevar # Zeigler Auto Group/LoJack Chevrolet 267 5 8 37 Running
10 35 41 Ryan Preece Bonanza Cabernet Ford 267 9 29 Running
11 12 4 Josh Berry # Panini Color Blast Ford 267 26 Running
12 13 14 Chase Briscoe Zep Ford 267 25 Running
13 2 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 267 24 Running 1 1
14 24 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 267 23 Running
15 21 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 267 22 Running
16 23 99 Daniel Suarez FreewayFranchise.com Chevrolet 267 21 Running
17 18 6 Brad Keselowski Consumer Cellular Ford 267 20 Running 1 8
18 8 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald's/RMHC Toyota 267 2 28 Running 1 2
19 16 10 Noah Gragson Beef A Roo Ford 267 18 Running
20 31 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Ford 267 17 Running 1 1
21 5 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/vitaminwater Chevrolet 267 16 Running
22 28 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 267 15 Running
23 6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 267 10 7 19 Running
24 34 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 267 13 Running
25 30 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 267 12 Running
26 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek Family Dollar Toyota 267 11 Running
27 36 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 267 10 Running
28 26 22 Joey Logano (P) Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 267 9 Running
29 9 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 267 8 Running
30 19 71 Zane Smith # Wellcare Chevrolet 267 7 Running
31 17 8 Kyle Busch Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet 267 6 Running 3 5
32 27 15 Kaz Grala # Meat N' Bone Ford 267 5 Running
33 22 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 267 4 Running
34 10 7 Justin Haley Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet 266 3 Running 1 1
35 33 51 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Ford 266 2 Running
36 14 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 261 1 Running
37 38 66 * Chad Finchum(i) GreenLightPP.com Ford 258 0 Running
38 37 44 * JJ Yeley(i) Urban Youth Chevrolet 223 0 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 5 Mins, 44 Secs. Average Speed: 129.379 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.241 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 23, 9, 12, 77, 20, 11, 24, 48, 19
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 9, 20, 45, 12, 24, 19, 77, 41, 16
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 6 for 30 laps; Laps: 2-5 (#7, 47 Incident Turn 3 [None]); 49-53 (Debris Turn 4 [21]); 82-87 (Stage 1 Conclusion [15]); 167-172 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]); 188-191 (#7, 54 Incident Turn 3 [38]); 256-260 (#5 Spins Turn 4 [3]).
Lead Changes: 33 among 11 drivers; T. Reddick (P) 1-5; C. Bell (P) 6; T. Reddick (P) 7-32; K. Larson (P) 33; B. Keselowski 34-41; T. Gilliland 42; J. Haley 43; C. Elliott (P) 44-49; T. Reddick (P) 50; K. Busch 51-53; B. Wallace 54-55; T. Reddick (P) 56-83; R. Blaney (P) 84-87; C. Elliott (P) 88-115; D. Hamlin (P) 116-122; T. Reddick (P) 123-124; K. Busch 125; R. Blaney (P) 126-127; C. Elliott (P) 128-159; D. Hamlin (P) 160-168; C. Elliott (P) 169-171; C. Bell (P) 172-173; C. Elliott (P) 174; R. Blaney (P) 175-176; C. Elliott (P) 177-187; R. Blaney (P) 188; K. Busch 189; R. Blaney (P) 190-220; T. Reddick (P) 221-251; R. Blaney (P) 252-257; T. Reddick (P) 258-260; D. Hamlin (P) 261-265; R. Blaney (P) 266; T. Reddick (P) 267.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: November 3, 2024 - Martinsville Speedway
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