What Happened?
Rather than making a step-back three, Tyler Reddick stepped up the banking in turn 3 of Homestead-Miami Speedway and rocketed around Ryan Blaney to win his way into the Championship 4 with Michael Jordan on the pit box.
The top two crossed the stripe in front of a number of other playoff drivers, beginning with Reddick’s co-owner Denny Hamlin in third. Defending race winner Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The No. 45 car also started from the pole, just the second time this season the pole winner has translated their qualifying speed into a race win.
What Really Happened?
Entering this weekend, the playoffs have not been kind to Reddick.
Some weeks, like at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, the No. 45 team just did not have the racecar. At other races, like Watkins Glen International and Talladega Superspeedway, Reddick was involved in messes not of his own doing.
The past two weeks, however, Reddick’s aggressive style became his downfall. Reddick dug himself into a hole at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, when an ambitious move in turn 7 led to contact with Hamlin and a damaged car.
While Reddick heroically drove back into playoff contention, another aggressive move around the high lane resulted in a tumble on the frontstretch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
As evidenced by his late summer hot streak, Reddick knows how to get the job done when he can put a complete race together. He just had not done that — until this weekend.
Something about Homestead lends itself to Reddick’s tendencies to push the limit of car and track better than most others, and Reddick’s two Xfinity Series titles in Miami show just how good and aggressive Reddick can be.
The driver showed up, won the pole and ran well all day. The team also did a great job, utilizing an aggressive strategy in the final stage to put its driver in a position to have a chance.
When the race went green for the final few laps, Reddick didn’t drive like he had a slight tire disadvantage. Instead, he held his own and stayed in the game.
With the clock winding down, Reddick had three other drivers in need of a win…
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