23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick makes feelings known after being “this close to stealing” the Daytona 500 win 

NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick had to settle for second place behind William Byron in a dramatic last-lap finish at the season opener Daytona 500. Reddick, who drives the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, started the final lap in 13th place. He managed to slip through the chaos of a massive last-lap crash that took out leader Hamlin and several others.

Byron, who also avoided the wreck, got ahead and won the 'Great American Race' by just 0.113 seconds. Reddick shared his reaction on X after his near miss to two-time Daytona 500 winner Byron and wrote:

"We were this close to stealing it! 🤏🏻"

Meanwhile, Reddick’s second-place finish was impressive, considering he spent most of the race struggling. He started in 11th and earned some points in the first stage but dropped to 30th by Stage 2. With five laps remaining, he was back in 25th place but moved up to 20th after Christopher Bell and Ryan Preece's crash.

"If we were up there controlling that race and lost it at the end, it would sting a lot more," Reddick said. "We basically got two major breaks and snuck through two big stackups. Without those, we finish somewhere around 20th."

"You would have to go back 60 laps, just decisions made leading up to that final stretch – not really in the closing laps. We got the most out of it that we could," he added.

This was also Tyler Reddick's first top-10 finish at the Daytona 500. Before this, his best result was 27th place in 2022. The 29-year-old now sits fourth in the standings, seven points behind leader Ryan Blaney.

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"I'll take second" - Tyler Reddick on Daytona 500 after best finish in seven starts

Tyler Reddick was in 15th place after the overtime restart of the Daytona 500. He and chased Byron for the checkered flag after the multi-car wreck on the final lap.

"All in all, I never really finished a race here unless it was 40 laps down, so I'll take second," Tyler Reddick said (NBC Sports). "We wanted to get a good start to the year, and we scored a lot of points today. So, I'm really happy with everyone's effort on this No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry."

On the last lap, Austin Cindric was leading but a big crash took him out with Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and others. It started when Joey Logano moved inside and Ricky Stenhouse tried to block him.

The crash caused a chain reaction that sent Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott spinning. William Byron won the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row with Reddick finishing second and Jimmie Johnson third.