Reddick holds off Hamlin to win
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tyler Reddick took advantage of a late caution and fresh tires to rocket past six others in a twolap sprint to the finish Sunday, and he punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his win at Kansas Speedway.
Denny Hamlin, who coowns Reddick’s car along with Michael Jordan, got a poor jump when the green flag dropped, was unable to chase down Reddick, and finished second. Erik Jones held on for third and Kyle Larson, who won at Darlington to clinch his playoff spot a week ago, marched through the field in the closing laps to finish fourth.
“We had really good pace, we just couldn’t get ahead of Denny there, but chaos ensued,” Reddick said. “Then the bottom lane opened up there and it was crazy.”
It was the third win for the No. 45 car of 23XI in the last four races at Kansas, and all with different drivers after Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace won last year. The win was the second of the season for Reddick and the fifth of his career but, more importantly, sends him out of the round of 16 in the playoffs for the first time. The cutoff for the top 12 to advance comes next weekend at Bristol.
Hamlin was cruising to the win when Chris Buescher blew his right rear tire with about six laps to go. That forced the leaders into the pits, and just about everyone had a different tire strategy to set themselves up for the two-lap finishing sprint.
“I should have just focused forward probably — gave the 45 a chance to get up there in front us,” said Hamlin, who was trying to keep track of Larson behind him on the final restart. “Just gave too much room to the cars in front of me to kind of get up and get out there. Just a bad move.”
Reddick, who was second at Darlington, led 23 laps at Kansas in the spring. With his fresh tires, and taking advantage of Hamlin’s miscue, he led the one that mattered most Sunday.
It was a tough race for several playoff drivers. Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. also blew right rear tires and sustained heavy damage. Wallace was able to continue after repairing a toe link and finished 32nd, but Truex’s day was done after just three laps and he finished last.