Tyler Reddick charged past leader Ryan Blaney in the final turn during a seven-lap shootout to grab a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series championship race in two weeks, winning Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.
Following Kyle Larson’s spin four laps after leader Reddick pitted, the final restart featured Reddick, on two-lap older tires, and Blaney on the front row.
Restarting on the point, Reddick fell back but blew by Denny Hamlin and beat Blaney on the 1.5-mile speedway to win for the third time this season by 0.241 seconds. The Toyota driver led 97 laps.
“We were backed into a corner and had no other choice,” said Reddick, who stayed out on older tires and caught a fortunate caution with 12 laps to go. “I knew 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 and are fighting for a championship. … I knew I had to get on his right-side door, and he raced me clean.”
While the No. 45 23XI racer advances to the Championship 4 weekend, only one of the other top-five finishers — Blaney, Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott — can advance next week at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The reigning series champion, Blaney said he had a bad final circuit around the South Florida track.
“I had a great shot to win it and didn’t have a very good last lap,” the No. 12 Ford racer said. “Man, I thought I got into (Turn) 3 hard, and the 45 … it just stuck for him. … That last lap just didn’t play out for us.”
Last in points at 53 points below the cut line, Elliott took advantage of a strong pit stop near the halfway point of 80-lap Stage 1 and put his No. 9 Chevrolet out front after service had cycled around.
Fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Larson suffered a flat tire on Lap 47 and brushed the Turn 2 wall with his No. 5 Chevrolet for the second yellow session.
With 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace three seconds behind, polesitter Reddick cruised to another stage win while third-place Elliot and fourth-place Blaney benefited from bonus points, too.
At the 100-lap mark, Elliott, Blaney and Hamlin — three drivers in the bottom four of the Round of 8 — showed the way, while fourth-place Reddick reported issues with his No. 45 Toyota.
In the closing 10 laps of Stage 2, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota ran down Elliott’s Camaro, and with a faster car, he eventually cleared the Hendrick driver to snatch away the 10 bonus points for his first segment win in 12 races. Elliott, Bell, Reddick and Blaney filled the next four point-getters.
At the mark with just 100 laps left, the remaining seven drivers in the Round of 8 — who had not advanced like Joey Logano — all ran inside the top nine spots, creating a constant shuffle in the points standings. Logano, who won a week earlier at Las Vegas, finished 28th on Sunday.
The top group pitted with just under 50 laps remaining. Blaney briefly lost the lead to Elliott after coming in a lap later, but the No. 12 Team Penske Ford racer regained the point.
Meanwhile, Reddick stayed out on older tires, hoping for a caution, but had to pit with 16 laps left while leading.
However, Larson went three-wide and spun after contact with 12 laps to go for the sixth caution period.
–Field Level Media