Tyler Reddick won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway from pole, but it wasn’t a straight shot to the checkered flag.
The 23XI Racing driver had to overcome a battery swap, a jack issue, a busted cool suit and a late incident to pick up his fourth win in the first six races of the season.
Brad Keselowski won the first two stages and led 142 laps while Reddick was sorting things out in what remained a very fast car, including draining the hot water from his cool suit.
Then, as he was making his way through the field just before the final round of stops, Chris Buescher slowed unexpectedly to head into the pits and Reddick ran him into the wall. Both were able to continue, and Buescher’s team took the blame for the late move, but Reddick lost time and stretched his stint before coming in for fresh tires. After that, he stormed through the field, passed Keselowski with 26 laps left and drove away for the win.
“I know never to give up,” Reddick said after the race. “I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington, that the Lady in Black would test us like that.”
Keselowski held on for second in front of a hard-charging Ryan Blaney, but Carson Hocevar challenged Reddick for drive of the day by finishing fourth after starting the race from last place.
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The win was Reddick’s fourth in the first six races of the season and solidified a commanding 325 to 230 points lead over Ryan Blaney in second thanks to the new Chase championship format, which gives more points for wins than in recent years.
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