Tyler Reddick wins NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400
Tyler Reddick wins NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400
Watch the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 Finale
CAMBRIDGE TWP. — It took two days and six extra laps, but Tyler Reddick broke from the front of the field on Monday to win the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Reddick appeared to have the race in his favor, as his lead grew to two seconds with 10 laps to go, but the yellow flag was waved when Martin Truex Jr. spun in Turn 4 on Lap 194, also sending the race into overtime. Ross Chastain spun on the restart, prompting a second yellow flag on Lap 199.
William Byron took the lead on the restart on lap 204, but Reddick retook the lead on lap 205 and put Byron within striking distance of the win on lap 206.
“It was a pretty chaotic race for us,” said Reddick. “We didn’t know where we were, but we knew what we had to do in the race. We got a really good push from Ty (Gibbs) on the restart.”
Reddick not only overtook Byron on the restart to win, but also overtook Kyle Larson with his second win of the season and took the lead in the overall points standings.
With two races left in the regular season, Reddick is 10 points ahead of Larson.
“A lot of us at the top are running really well and you never know when you’re going to have a bad day,” Reddick said.
After a caution for tire problems for Todd Gilliland, AJ Allmendinger and Joey Logano, Larson lost control in Turn 3 on Lap 115 and caused a pile-up in Turn 4. Larson finished in the infield with Christopher Bell and Gilliland.
The caution resulted in Kyle Busch taking the win in Stage 2.
“It’s really close on the racetrack as far as speed goes,” Reddick said. “It’s close as far as points go, and that’s what this Next Gen era has done: It’s brought us all closer together. The little things, the little moments in your day can affect you so much.”
A small moment on lap 135 became a scary one when Corey Lajoie made slight contact with Noah Gragson on the backstretch, sending Lajoie flying into the air and tipping over onto his tires. Lajoie emerged from the accident seemingly uninjured, but it left spectators gasping for air.
“The cars are pretty safe in rollovers,” said Denny Hamlin, who also owns Reddick’s No. 45 car along with 23XI. “That’s a strength of the Next Gen car. (LaJoie) was in the middle of the straightaway doing about 185 mph and spun sideways, and I don’t know if you can slow us down enough in the car to not roll over in that situation.”
“I didn’t roll over, but as a driver I would almost rather roll over at this speed than hit a wall. We have a safe car and I feel comfortable at the speed we are reaching.”
Reddick took the lead on lap 176 and only briefly gave it up to Byron after the overtime caution, but was able to quickly regain it thanks to the help of his Toyota colleague Gibbs in the No. 54 car.
“We would have been second, third or fourth,” Reddick said. “Knowing (Gibbs) and him knowing me and knowing how I was going to approach the restart, it just worked out really, really well. I didn’t want (Byron) to be half a car ahead, but it was just the perfect storm.”
With Reddick’s win and the lead in the overall standings, it is the first time that the young 23XI team has taken the top spot in the overall standings this late in the season.
The team consisting of Reddick and Bubba Wallace in the No. 23 car, which got off to a strong start but only finished 26th due to the Larson accident and was owned by fellow driver Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan, also owned the car.
Jordan was present at the start of the race on Sunday, but was not there on Monday to see the checkered flag with his No. 45.
“This is really big for our team,” Hamlin said. “It’s been a long road and I’m really proud of all the work the team has done to get here.”
Rounding out the top 10 are Byron and Gibbs in second and third, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski of Rochester, Chris Buescher, 2023 winner Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Hamlin and Carson Hocevar of Portage.
Hocevar finished in the top 10 for the fifth time in his rookie season, and although he needs a win to make the playoffs, he is currently in the lead in the race for the NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year title.
“We want to treat ourselves like a playoff car,” Hocevar said. “We want to maintain that standard to finish the year strong and then we have a full year to become a playoff car.”
