Reddick takes advantage of late caution, holes of car owner Hamlin to win at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Each time Tyler Reddick walked into a contest meeting at 23XI Racing and talk turned to Kansas Speedway, it seemed that almost everyone within the room had a win there but him.

There’s co-owner Denny Hamlin, who has won at the track 4 times, greater than anyone else. Kurt Busch, who retired as a driver but stays a consultant for the team. And Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate, who won at Kansas a 12 months ago.

“We joked about that,” admitted Reddick’s crew chief, Billy Scott, “that he’s the one one which sits in our debriefs with no win.”

Not anymore.

Reddick took advantage of a late caution and fresh tires to rocket past six others in a two-lap sprint to the finish Sunday, and his win at Kansas Speedway punched his ticket to the subsequent round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Hamlin got a poor jump on the last restart, couldn’t chase Reddick down and finished second. Erik Jones held on for third and Kyle Larson, who won at Darlington to clinch his playoff spot every week ago, marched through the sphere to finish fourth ahead of Joey Logano.

“Just an excellent job by this whole 23XI team,” Reddick said. “We had really good pace, we just couldn’t get ahead of Denny there, but chaos ensued. Then the underside lane opened up there and it was crazy.”

Even crazier: It was the third win for the No. 45 car of 23XI within the last 4 races at Kansas , and all with different drivers after Busch and Wallace won last 12 months. Its owner, meanwhile, nearly pulled off the sweep after Hamlin won within the spring.

“I believe that myself and this team work really close together,” said Hamlin, who has long driven for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Typically after we run well, they run well, and we’re learning as much from them as they’re learning from us. It’s an important partnership and really useful to have talented guys behind the wheel of fast cars.”

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 nearly everyone had a distinct tire strategy — Reddick took 4 fresh tires, although it shuffled him back to seventh on the restart — to set themselves up for the two-lap ending sprint.

The win was the second of the season for Reddick and the fifth of his profession but, more importantly, sends him out of the round of 16 within the playoffs for the primary time. The cut-off for the highest 12 to advance comes next weekend at Bristol.

“Now they get to go to Bristol and work a method that’s best for them to win the race, they usually don’t really have to worry about finish points,” said Hamlin, who’s the leader in points amongst those yet to advance and in good position to join them. 

“Really pleased about them putting an entire race together and capitalizing on the late restart,” he said.

It was a troublesome race for several playoff drivers. Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. also blew right rear tires, which has been an issue with the most recent generation of car at Kansas, and sustained heavy damage. Wallace was able to proceed after repairing a toe link and finished thirty second, but Truex’s day was done after just three laps and he finished last.

There also was more drama at Kansas for Larson, who was bumped by Hamlin for the lead on the last lap within the spring.

On the ultimate stop before the finish, the No. 5 car had to quickly jerk to the best to avoid Brad Keselowski coming out of his stall, and Larson collided with Chase Elliott, who isn’t within the playoffs but was aiming for his first win of the 12 months.

The minor contact didn’t sit well with Elliott, who bumped Larson back when the cars got back on the track.

WHO’S HOT

Keselowski still doesn’t have a win since April 2021 at Talladega, when he as still at Team Penske, and Buescher has been overshadowing him recently with three wins for RFK Racing. However the No. 6 car has quietly been running up front, ending second to his teammate at Daytona, sixth at Darlington and ninth on Sunday.

Logano, who has three playoff wins at Kansas, can be on a roll. Logano has been in the highest 10 in three of the past 4 races with the No. 22 car, including fifth-place runs at Daytona and again on Sunday.

WHO’S NOT

Truex, the regular-season champion, got here into the race 25 points above the playoff cut line and left in peril. Truex had his right rear tire go down within the opening laps, sending him into the wall with heavy damage and ending his day.

“I knew something was up of course, just didn’t know it was going to blow the tire out,” said Truex, who’s seven points behind Kevin Harvick for the last spot within the round of 12. “I suppose I must have just pitted, but at that cut-off date, you simply don’t know if the car is just really tight or what’s happening. It’s an actual shame. I hate it for my team.”

UP NEXT

The series heads to Bristol next week for the ultimate race before the cutoff. Playoff contender Christopher Bell, who sat on the pole at Kansas and finished eighth, won the spring race at “The Last Great Colosseum.”