Tyler Reddick won the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway from pole, but the victory came close to slipping away from him at the end.
Reddick passed his 23XI Racing ream owner Denny Hamlin with six laps left and was driving away from him when he started running out of fuel and then brushed the wall two laps from the finish, allowing Hamlin to slip by him on the inside.
Lucky for Reddick, Cody Ware spun in front of them just seconds later to bring out the yellow flag and send the race into overtime.
Reddick, Hamlin and all of the leaders came in for tires and a splash of fuel. Hamlin was the first off pit road followed by Reddick with Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell on the second row.
Hamlin got a good start, but Larson passed him on the apron and took the lead as Bell made a move on the outside. Reddick then moved up the track and ran Bell into the wall and out of contention, but was able to keep a head of steam to get by Hamlin and start chasing down Larson.
Reddick and Larson were side by side through turns 1 and 2 and down the back straight, but then Reddick went deep to the inside and pulled ahead through turns 3 and 4 to take the win.
“Was that nuts or what? I couldn’t believe it,” Reddick said after the race. “I mean, first off, I feel like I have to say obviously just for how I feel. I never like being on the inside of it. Really hate that for Christopher Bell. Good, hard racing. The 11 [Hamlin] came up, I mean, I took off tight. Not thrilled I got Christopher there. I hate that for him because he was having a good, solid day.”
“Man, these late race restarts get crazy. I obviously had a run on the 5. I was shocked I was able to get to his inside there. An incredible SupplyHouse Toyota Camry all day long. Yeah, it was really painful to get that late caution,” he said.
The win was Reddick’s fifth in nine races this season and team co-owner Michael Jordan was at the track to see it.
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“This kid is on fire. I don’t know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable. Unbelievable last couple laps. I’m proud of the whole team,” Jordan said.
“When you win, it’s always fun. Right now it’s fun for everybody at 23XI. Me being here and being able to see all the wins, I am so happy for the team. I just think we need to continually build on this, without a doubt.”
Reddick will head to Talladega for the Jack Link’s 500 first in the standings, followed by Hamlin, Ryan Blaney Ty Gibbs and Larson.
