Reddick defeats Byron in overtime
Tyler Reddick was able to secure victory at Michigan International Speedway after an incident towards the end of the race required a final sprint.
For Reddick, this was already his second victory in the 2024 NASCAR Cup season after his victory at Talladega. He took advantage of an attack by his Toyota colleague Ty Gibbs to snatch the lead from William Byron.
Reddick was on his way to victory for a few laps before an incident involving Martin Truex Jr. turned the race into a shootout. On the ensuing restart, Alex Bowman hit the wall on the backstretch and playoff contender Ross Chastain spun to the inside before getting stuck in the grass.
The race went into overtime, with Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford Mustang pushing Byron while the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs lined up behind Reddick.
Reddick was able to quickly overtake Byron and eventually won by just under two-tenths of a second after 16 laps. Byron was a close second and Gibbs, still looking for his first Cup win, was third.
“Just a great teammate, fantastic push by Ty Gibbs,” Reddick said. “That’s what it’s all about. The Toyota Racing family tries to look out for each other.”
Reddick dedicated the win to his mentor and dirt racing legend Scott Bloomquist, who died in a private plane crash last week.
Kyle Busch finished fourth, Keselowski fifth, Zane Smith seventh, Daniel Suarez eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth and Carson Hocevar tenth.
The race was slowed by nine cautions, including a shocking air crash by Corey LaJoie. He emerged unscathed from the rollover, but it was the second time this weekend that a car was flipped upside down.
The picture in the playoffs has also changed: Ross Chastain wanted to make great progress, but a spin towards the end of the race put him a lap back. The big winners were Gibbs and Buescher, who are now 39 and 16 points above the cut line respectively.
Chastain still made it back to the playoffs and is currently in last place, but is only 1 point ahead of Bubba Wallace.
Monday’s race was Reddick’s seventh career win and crucial in his battle for the regular season championship. Kyle Larson entered the race as the points leader but crashed in a mid-race scuffle.
Reddick now has control of the points, 10 points ahead of Elliott and 28 points ahead of Hamlin. Larson dropped to fourth, 32 points back.
