In one lap on Sunday afternoon, Tyler Reddick put a stamp on his NASCAR Cup Series season, and there are still two weekends to go.
One of those could end with him being crowned as champion. But it doesn’t matter what the final standings say.
Reddick’s third-to-first drive on the last lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway was entertaining to watch. But it also deserves accolades for being done on older tires, and for the determination with which it was accomplished.
There was no denying Reddick. He sealed the deal after initially being put on his back foot off the final restart when he lost the lead in Turn 1 after boss Denny Hamlin made it three-wide and drove away.
“We were backed in a corner, man; we had no other choice,” Reddick said. “I know we were on a tire deficit, and at Homestead that’s a death sentence, but I don’t care. We did what it took to win this race we’re fighting for a championship.”
Here is the thing about Reddick. What he showed Sunday is what many have always believed he was capable of doing. However, there have been so many near misses, fumbles, and mistakes by either himself or the No. 45 team that it’s easy to be hesitant to push all the chips in on the group.
A week ago in Las Vegas, it was an aggressive move, in Reddick’s words, that sent him rolling over on the frontstretch. He got into Turn 7 too hot at the Charlotte Roval and bounced off Hamlin, which damaged his car and forced him into a position of having to drive through the field to advance into the Round of 8.
Or go back to Chicago, when Reddick hit a wall on the last lap while chasing down Alex Bowman. The delta showed that Reddick would have at least caught Bowman to give himself a chance at the victory. There was also Nashville Superspeedway, where Reddick felt he missed an opportunity to capitalize on five overtimes when he was safe on fuel and tires.
Despite being “backed into a corner” after the final restart and stuck with older tires, Reddick made some magic happen at Homestead. Matthew Thacker/Motorsport Images
In fairness, the setbacks are not all on Reddick. There have been fumbles by the team – this year and last – in either lost stage points, bad execution, or mistakes on pit road.
Don’t forget, less than a month ago, Reddick admitted his team was concerned about performance and car handling. Nothing had changed from the regular season, in which Reddick claimed the crown by one point over Kyle Larson in a gutsy performance while feeling ill, but when the postseason started, it was less than smooth sailing.
All of that went out the window with a victory at Homestead to lock themselves into the Championship 4.
“I had a great shot to win and I didn’t have a very good last lap,” said Ryan Blaney, who was the driver left trying to understand what just happened after Sunday’s race. “Man, I thought I got into 3 hard and just blitzed it off in there and it stuck for him, which is pretty impressive.”
Furthermore from Reddick, “I thought there was no way Blaney was going to leave me the outside. He must have thought that I was just going to absolutely dive-bomb it off in there to try to get around him. Once I saw him kind of shade down, I hit the gas and forgot about everything else. Came out on the other side in the lead. It was just crazy.”
In a season of ups and downs for Reddick, he’s written an ending that will make everyone forget all those previous incidents.
“Tyler had a tire disadvantage, a clean air disadvantage, (and) still prevails,” 23XI Racing competition director Dave Rogers said. “I think it speaks volumes about how good of a driver he is, how determined he is, just how much talent he has.
“It’s a pleasure to work with Tyler. It’s a pleasure to work with the entire 45 team. The whole group has so much talent. To perform at this level today, I think they just showcased what they’re capable of.”
There is knowing what they are capable of and showing what they are capable of. Sunday was the oh-so-satisfying latter.
