Unsinkable Tyler Reddick overcomes adversity to win at Darlington
Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images
DARLINGTON, S.C.—It’s almost impossible to keep a good man down—when you’re on the kind roll Tyler Reddick is enjoying, that is.
Overcoming a succession of issues inside his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, Reddick delivered a convincing victory in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, beating runner-up Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 5.847 seconds.
The win was Reddick’s fourth of the season in six NASCAR Cup Series events, following his record-setting sweep of the first three races of the year. That four-victory total puts Reddick in the company of two pillars of the sport.
Only twice before has a Cup Series driver won four of the first six races in a given season: Dale Earnhardt in 1987 and Bill Elliott in 1992.
Nor did circumstances make it easy on the 30-year-old driver from Corning, California. With a malfunctioning alternator from the outset, Reddick had to conserve power by eliminating unnecessary electrical drains.
That meant no cool suit to keep him refreshed on a warm day in the South Carolina Sandhills. It also meant a change to a more robust battery on pit road, a move that relegated the No. 45 Camry to the back of the field.
Trouble on the right-front tire on the team’s first green-flag pit stop compounded the issues, resulting in a 16.3-second pit stop that cost Reddick six positions in the running order.
An untimely final-stage collision with Chris Buescher, who made a late signal to come to pit road on Lap 242 of 293, also cost Reddick valuable time.
Ultimately, though, Reddick overcame all the obstacles thrown at the No. 45 team on Sunday. After pitting for the final time on Lap 246, Reddick charged forward, erasing a seven-second deficit to Keselowski, who led a race-high 142 laps.
On Lap 266, Reddick passed Keselowski for the lead and pulled away to the decisive victory.
“I’m pretty sure it’s frustrating for him because he had an unbelievable car,” said former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Cup driver Denny Hamlin. “You know, you never know what’s going to happen, especially at Darlington. I think that the key to him winning was just keeping his head.
“I think (crew chief) Billy (Scott) did a good job of trying to keep him calm. We knew we had a fast car. We knew on a 30-lap run we were real good, on a short-lap run we were real good. We just had to get the car right. And he kept his composure, and he did an unbelievable job.”
Reddick, who started from the pole and led 77 laps, thought a trial by fire was appropriate at the Track Too Tough to Tame.
“I know never to give up,” Reddick, who won for the 12th time in his career. “I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington that the Lady in Black would test us like that. We’ve been so close so many times. I mean, Lap 1 we had the charging problem where the battery wasn’t charging at all.
“All day long, just not running fans. Sweat my tail off inside the race car, and we knew it was going to be physical. Really worn out, but I guess I don’t need as much of that cooling stuff as I normally have.”
Keselowski was running a paint scheme to honor the late Greg Biffle, a former RFK Racing driver who lost his life in a plane crash last December.
“We didn’t have the best car today,” Keselowski acknowledged. “Not compared to Tyler. Tyler drove a hell of a race, and he’s driving a rocket, and he’s making it count right now.
“I think we got the most out of the day we were getting to get, honestly, but we scored a lot of stage points, second place, first place loser, but that’s OK. We’re doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have.
“It’s really cool to have the great group of (RFK) cars running up front. I put a nice right-sided stripe on the car. I think that would make Greg proud. If you know Greg, you’ll understand that one.”
Ryan Blaney finished third, overcoming a penalty for pitting in a teammate’s stall to tighten a loose wheel.
Carson Hocevar showed blazing speed in the final stage in finishing fourth after starting from the rear of the field because of an unapproved adjustment to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet—the repair of an upper control arm.
Austin Cindric ran fifth, followed by Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Buescher and Erik Jones.
The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway on March 29 in the Cook at 400 (FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 6
Race Results for the Goodyear 400 - Sunday, March 22, 2026
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 293 Laps - 400.238 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 3/22/2026 @ 06:57 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps Pos
1 1 45 Tyler Reddick Xfinity Toyota 293 2 5 70 Running 3 77
2 5 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 293 1 1 55 Running 6 142
3 7 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Delta Ford 293 3 42 Running
4 16 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Marg Machine Chevrolet 293 33 Running 1 2
5 12 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 293 8 8 38 Running
6 28 54 Ty Gibbs SiriusXM Toyota 293 9 33 Running 1 1
7 11 7 Daniel Suarez NationsGuard Chevrolet 293 9 10 33 Running
8 13 24 William Byron Raptor Chevrolet 293 10 7 34 Running
9 6 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 293 6 2 42 Running 2 41
10 24 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 293 27 Running
11 9 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 293 26 Running
12 23 19 Chase Briscoe Free Bird Southern Spring Water Toyota 293 4 32 Running 1 4
13 17 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Oscar Mayer/Heinz Ford 293 6 29 Running
14 33 97 Shane Van Gisbergen WeatherTech Chevrolet 293 23 Running
15 3 9 Chase Elliott UniFirst Chevrolet 293 7 26 Running 1 6
16 25 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 293 21 Running
17 26 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 293 20 Running
18 32 88 Connor Zilisch # Red Bull Chevrolet 293 19 Running
19 22 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 292 18 Running
20 20 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 292 17 Running
21 8 8 Kyle Busch BetMGM Chevrolet 292 16 Running
22 19 38 Zane Smith Mystik Lubricants Ford 292 15 Running
23 31 34 Todd Gilliland Ruedebusch Ford 292 14 Running
24 15 48 Justin Allgaier(i) Ally Chevrolet 292 0 Running
25 10 3 Austin Dillon BPS/Winchester Long Beard XR Chevrolet 292 12 Running
26 30 4 Noah Gragson Long John Silver's Ford 291 11 Running
27 21 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 291 10 Running
28 35 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Chevrolet 291 9 Running
29 18 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Jack Links Non-Vegan Chevrolet 291 8 Running
30 27 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 291 7 Running
31 36 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 291 6 Running
32 4 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 291 5 3 19 Running 2 20
33 29 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 290 4 Running
34 2 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia Toyota 288 4 11 Running
35 14 35 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Toyota 288 2 Running
36 34 51 Cody Ware Jacob Construction Chevrolet 285 1 Running
37 37 66 * Timmy Hill(i) Auto Direct USA Ford 52 0 Handling
Fastest Lap Bonus: #23, lap 2 / 299.99
Race Comments: Tyler Reddick won the seventh running of the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, his 12th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 77 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 4 Mins, 56 Secs. Average Speed: Margin of Victory:
Caution Flags: 4 for 26 laps; Laps: 92-100 (Stage 1 Conclusion [71]); 112-116 (#43, 11 Incident Turn 3 [97]); 187-193 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 198-202 (#35 Spin
Frontstretch [34]).
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers; T. Reddick 0; T. Reddick 1-45; B. Keselowski 46-95; K. Larson 96-112; B. Keselowski 113; K. Larson 114-116; B. Keselowski 117-145; C. Elliott 146-151; B. Keselowski 152-194; C. Briscoe 195-198; C. Buescher 199-201; T. Gibbs 202; C. Buescher 203-240; B. Keselowski 241; T. Reddick
242-245; C. Hocevar 246-247; B. Keselowski 248-265; T. Reddick 266-293. 129.854 MPH 5.847 Seconds
Stage 2 Top 10: 6, 17, 5, 19, 45, 60, 24, 2, 54, 7
Stage 1 Top 10: 6, 45, 12, 23, 5, 17, 9, 2, 7, 24
i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: March 29, 2026 - Martinsville Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-287
CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES STANDINGS
Through March 22. 2026
UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL
1. Tyler Reddick 45 6 0 325 0 0 4 0
2. Ryan Blaney 12 6 -1 230 -95 95 1 1
3. Bubba Wallace 23 6 1 205 -120 25 0 2
4. Denny Hamlin 11 6 0 203 -122 2 1 0
5. Chase Elliott 9 6 0 194 -131 9 0 0
6. William Byron 24 6 -2 191 -134 3 0 1
7. Chris Buescher 17 6 -2 188 -137 3 0 0
8. Christopher Bell 20 6 2 182 -143 6 0 2
9. Brad Keselowski 6 6 -3 182 -143 0 0 2
10. Kyle Larson 5 6 3 176 -149 6 0 0
11. Ty Gibbs 54 6 1 173 -152 3 0 1
12. Ryan Preece 60 6 -1 154 -171 19 0 0
13. Carson Hocevar 77 6 -2 151 -174 3 0 0
14. Daniel Suarez 7 6 -3 150 -175 1 0 0
15. Shane Van Gisbergen 97 6 -1 140 -185 10 0 0
16. Joey Logano 22 6 5 139 -186 1 0 0
17. Michael McDowell 71 6 3 139 -186 0 0 0
18. AJ Allmendinger 16 6 0 124 -201 15 0 0
19. Zane Smith 38 6 0 123 -202 1 0 1
20. Ross Chastain 1 6 0 115 -210 8 0 1
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