Reddick wins his 2nd straight Xfinity crown
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Tyler Reddick won his second consecutive Xfinity Series championship by snatching the lead away from Cole Custer in a spirited season finale Saturday at HomesteadMiami Speedway.
Reddick and Custer traded the lead three times in a single lap with Reddick finally surging his Richard Childress Racing entry to the front for good with 18 laps remaining. Reddick is the first to win consecutive Xfinity championships since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2011 and 2012.
It’s the only championship for manufacturer Chevrolet, which was shut out in Friday night’s Truck Series finale when Matt Crafton won the title in a Ford. Chevrolet is not represented in the Cup championship race Sunday.
Reddick’s title comes in his final ride as full-time driver of the No. 2 for RCR. He’s being promoted to the Cup Series next season to drive the No. 8 Chevy.
Custer finished second and runnerup to Reddick in the championship race for the second consecutive year. Stewart-Haas Racing announced Friday that Custer is being promoted to the Cup Series next year.
Same for Christopher Bell, who finished fifth in the race and third in the championship picture, who was probably the title favorite but his Toyota dropped off in the final stage of his final ride before he moves to Cup.
Justin Allgaier, who won at Phoenix last weekend to make the final four, finished 14th and last in the championship race.
Reddick won the title last year driving for JR Motorsports, but he had already made the decision to move to Childress for this season. Childress has likened the 23-year-old to Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough and believes the driver will feature heavily in the future of the organization.
Reddick is the first driver in the Xfinity Series to win consecutive titles for different teams.