Tyler Reddick continues to live the dream.
Reddick had to think that maybe the racing luck had finally gone against him when his car sputtered. The sputtering made him lose the lead with only a few laps remaining Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
But a caution with less than two laps to go re-racked the field, and Reddick was able to rally after a poor restart to get by Kyle Larson for the victory.
“Was that nuts or what?” Reddick said in his FOX interview after doing the celebratory burnout.
It was the 23XI Racing driver’s fifth win of the Cup season, which is just nine races old. The last time a driver won five of the first nine races was Dale Earnhardt in 1987. That year, he won six of the first nine.
Here are my takeaways:
1: Reddick Collecting Checkered Flags
Reddick has so many race-winning flags that he probably doesn’t know what to do with them all. Maybe that’s why he gave the checkered flag to his team co-owner, basketball icon Michael Jordan.
“If he’s going to hang out [with] us, we got to get him dubs,” Reddick said.
Jordan has attended most of the races this year.
“This kid is on fire,” Jordan said on FOX. “I don’t know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable.”
2: Hamlin Has No Kansas Luck
For the second consecutive Kansas race, Denny Hamlin appeared to be in position to win going into a late restart only to see it slip away.
Last fall, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver tangled with a car he owns — that of 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, which ultimately allowed Chase Elliott to win.
He took the inside for the overtime restart on Sunday and that bit him, as Larson made the move from restarting third to the inside to take the lead. Hamlin got shuffled back and finished fourth.
It wasn’t the first time Larson has executed that move on Hamlin.
“I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps,” Hamlin said on FOX.
3: Larson Winless Streak Continues
Kyle Larson, the 2025 Cup champion, saw his winless streak extend to 33 races, with his last win coming at Kansas nearly a year ago.
It looked like Larson was going to steal a victory with his late-race move, but once Reddick could collect his car following the chaotic initial restart, Larson had nothing to hold off Reddick.
Larson finished second in the opening stage and won the second stage.
“We’re getting closer,” Larson said on FOX. “We’ll keep trying.”
4: Cody Ware Flat Brings Out Caution
Cody Ware had a flat tire and as he started to spin up the track, NASCAR threw the caution with less than two laps remaining.
Hamlin would have won but didn’t. Christopher Bell would have had a solid finish, but he was the victim of contact with Reddick on the restart and ended up 20th.
Chase Briscoe was the big winner (other than Reddick) as he went from 10th to third in the final two laps.
4 ½: What’s Next
Talladega is what’s next, meaning potential chaos, as the high speeds and tight packs often lead to brutal, big wrecks.
And in case you’re wondering, Reddick does have a win at Talladega. He captured the victory in the Spring 2024 race for 23XI Racing.
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