Reddick, JRM earn Xfinity championship
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tyler Reddick opened Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first season in retirement with a victory and closed it with a NASCAR championship.
Reddick won the Xfinity Series finale Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn the second-tier circuit’s season title. Reddick, 22, was perhaps a long shot behind Christopher Bell and Cole Custer, but with team owner Earnhardt — who retired from racing last November — watching from his pit box, he drove away from the field.
The title for JR Motorsports is its second consecutive Xfinity Series championship and third in five years.
Reddick won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, beating Elliott Sadler to the line in the closest finish in NASCAR history. His next win was in the final race, when everything was on the line.
Custer won the pole position and the first two stages of the race, but he finished second behind Reddick in the race and the points standings. Daniel Hemric, the other driver eligible for the title, finished fourth in the race and third in the standings.
Bell briefly challenged but was passed by Reddick and Custer in the final stage. A late flat tire dropped Bell to an 11th-place finish, and he wound up fourth in the championship field after winning a series-high seven races this season, the most for an Xfinity regular since Earnhardt won seven times in 1998.