TYLER REDDICK PUNCHES TICKET TO CHAMPIONSHIP 4 WITH WIN AT HOMESTEAD
Reddick make his first career Championship 4 appearance at Phoenix
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (October 27, 2024) – With an incredible move in the final two corners on the final lap, Tyler Reddick captured victory Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure his spot in the Cup Series Championship 4 for the first time in his career and the first title race appearance for 23XI Racing. The win is Reddick’s third in the 2024 season, tying a career-best, and the eighth of his Cup Series career.
Reddick started from the pole position and was the dominant car in Stage 1, leading 57 laps and claiming the stage victory. The No. 45 Camry XSE stayed in contention throughout Sunday afternoon but had to revert to running long in the final pit cycle in hopes of catching a late caution to be in the catbirds seat for a victory. That yellow came just laps after Reddick made his final pit stop, putting him to the lead while others pitted. He lost the lead on the initial restart but passed the cars in front, including in turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, to take the checkered flag and clinch himself to the championship race in two weeks.
Denny Hamlin, who won Stage 2, and Christopher Bell joined Reddick inside the top-five on Sunday, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Hamlin took the lead from Reddick on the final restart and seemed in position to put himself in the title race but came home third as the checkered flew. The result is the 11th top-five for the No. 11 team this season. Bell’s fourth-place result is his 14th top-five of the season, the most in the Cup Series, as well as his 22 top-10 finish, 11th in the last 13 races.
While Reddick is clinched to the Championship 4 race in Phoenix, Bell sits 29 points above the cutline heading to Round of 8 cutoff race in Martinsville next weekend. Hamlin will enter next Sunday below the cutline, 18 points under.
Race coverage at Martinsville Speedway next Sunday, November 3, can be seen on NBC at 2 p.m. EST, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM Radio Channel 90.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 34 of 36 – 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TYLER REDDICK
2nd, Ryan Blaney*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
5th, Chase Elliott*
18th, BUBBA WALLACE
22nd, ERIK JONES
23rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
26th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
36th, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Can you take us through your emotions on those final laps?
“I can’t walk you through the last few laps. But my emotions were all over the place. Yeah, when we went long, I didn’t know how that was going to play out. I was worried that caution wasn’t going to come. We pit, lose a lap. Oh, damn. We get back on the lead lap. I was not expecting it, right? Nick (Payne, spotter) says caution. Great, we’re at the back, whatever else. It was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to stay out.’ I was like, ‘Oh, snap, we’re going to stay out?’ We’re going to figure this out. Yeah, turn one went about as good as I thought it could have went. I saw Denny (Hamlin) get to my outside. That wasn’t great. We settled in there. I didn’t know how bad we were going to bleed. I drove into turn three kind of, I don’t know, out of desperation, something, I kind of held serve. I was very shocked by that. Then as laps just kept winding down, it didn’t truly feel like we were at a big tire deficit. You come to this place, you know tires are a premium. Early in the race we saw the 8 (Kyle Busch), a number of other cars, on three-, four-lap tires stay out and get their doors blown off. I was completely shocked we were able to stay in the mix like we were. Yeah, going into one, I made the right guess. I got the bottom. I got clean air. I got up in front of the 11 (Hamlin). I had a good run on the 12 (Ryan Blaney). I was just blown away that I had that kind of momentum going into turn three. I thought there was no way the 12 was going to leave, Blaney, was going to leave me the outside. He must have thought that I was just going to absolutely dive bomb it off in there to try to get around him. Once I saw him kind of shade down, I hit the gas and forgot about everything else. Came out on the other side in the lead. It was just crazy.”
How do you put out of your head what happened last week when you’re trying to make a move?
“You can’t think about it at all. I’m thankful that the cars are as safe as they are when it comes to rolling them over. They made big improvements with that from Gen-6 to Gen-7. Certainly, I didn’t think the crash was as big as it was. It was an interesting process understanding that. Again, I was just glad the car, for the most part, I stayed in the seat, nothing collapsed, nothing crazy happened. I don’t know. To your point, Bob (Pockrass, FOX Sports), we’re kind of crazy to some degree. My first lap in the car after flipping it, I drive off into turn three and four in practice right on the wall, like nothing had ever happened. That’s just how you have to be if you want to compete at this level. You’ve got to be able to remember the important things, remember the lessons. There’s certain things you just got to completely block out, forget, go into the next day, the next week completely ready to go like nothing ever happened.”
What about Homestead suits you?
“I have no idea. I like Florida. Maybe that’s some of it. The weather’s always nice. Yeah, this place is the only mile-and-a-half that we have that is shaped the way that it is. With the nature of the surface, the banking, just how well the wall is shaped, it really allows you to just get up there and rip it and make a lot of speed. Today was a day where you could really run the wall in (turns) three and four, but in one and two you had to move around quite a bit. That took some adjusting. But our car was really, really tuned for it. Our Beast Camry could kind of run wherever we wanted to. That was nice. It really was a big part of why we were able to win this race today. On older tires, we got up in line. Versatility is important here. I don’t know. This place has just been really, really fun from the first time I ever ran it as a rookie in the Truck Series. I don’t know what it is. Just me as a racer, I love stepping over the edge. This place seems to reward that to some degree. You have to take care of your tires. Being able to rip the fence when all else fails, man, there’s nowhere else like this place where you can do that and make that kind of speed. Just a lot of fun to run lap after lap.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What more could you do there to get the victory?
Well, I’m not really sure. Tried to cover all lanes, but just couldn’t quite get off the corner as good as I needed to there on that short run. Short run wasn’t my specialty all day, obviously. Either way, controlling the race with two to go, you got to try to find a way to finish it. Just didn’t.
What are you looking forward to heading to Martinsville next weekend?
“I mean, yeah, it’s another opportunity. Certainly, you’re not out of it till they throw the checkered flag at Martinsville.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What was lacking today that impeded you from victory today?
“I don’t know. A little bit. A couple cars just could get away. There were runs in race today where I felt really good, but just after restarts, I couldn’t keep up with them. This is so, so intense and we knew coming into the Round of 8 with these drivers, we were going to have winners, winners and winners. Coming to Homestead, you look at the guys who run well here and you’re expecting a winner from the bottom-half of the grid, and I think the same thing will happen in Martinsville. So, yeah, I’m glad we’ve been able to maximize our points and in order for us to transfer (to the Championship 4), we’re still going to have to be running for the win in Martinsville.”
Take us through your afternoon here today at Homestead.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m out of here with a top-five and getting points is really good. You have to win races in the Round of 8, and we haven’t done that yet. We’ll go to Martinsville, and yeah, I feel confident about where we’re at in Martinsville. (It) has been a good track for us in the past and I think we can build on that. Overall, I’m happy, just disappointed that we weren’t a little bit better contending for the win. Just, I don’t know.”
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