Tyler Reddick's crew chief Billy Scott couldn't believe what he saw as his driver drove around Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney on the final lap to win Sunday's Cup Series race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The guarantees Reddick a spot in this year's Championship 4.
Scott spoke with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at the conclusion of Sunday's race and said they had intentions of leaving the 1.5-mile track with a victory. For his driver to drive around two of the sport's best made it more surreal.
"It's unbelievable," Scott said. "We knew we could do it. We came here this weekend with the intent of winning at all costs and knew we had the speed to do it. Led a bunch of laps early on and then, wow, just for him to go up there even on a lap and a half older tires and take it from two of the best, it was unbelievable."
Reddick maintained control of his #45 23XI Racing Toyota, staying on the track and in the lead during the final laps of Sunday's 267-lap event, while other lead-lap cars chose to pit under green for their final stop. With 15 laps to go, the 28-year-old was forced to pit under green and surrender the top spot. However, Kyle Larson spun out two laps later to bring out a caution, which cycled Reddick back to the front.
Scott explained that their strategy was to remain on the lead lap to stay in contention, hoping for a fortunate turn of events. They opted to stay out and waited for a caution flag, which would allow them to cycle back to the lead.
"It was amazing that all the guys battling for the cutline and the must-win were all up there all day long together, but that was kind of our shot. We had to do something different and hope things fell our way," he said.
Hamlin took the lead on what ended up being the final restart of the race with under 10 laps to go. With two laps remaining, Blaney surged past Hamlin for the lead while Reddick ran close behind in third. On the final lap, Reddick outmaneuvered Hamlin and then passed Blaney on the outside in turns three and four to clinch the victory and secure a spot in the Championship 4.
Tyler Reddick joins Joey Logano as the two drivers qualified for the Championship 4
Tyler Reddick put his name alongside Joey Logano as the two drivers who have clinched a spot in this year's Championship 4 race at the Phoenix Raceway. Only two spots remain with one race left in the Round of 8, which takes place next week at Martinsville Speedway.
Logano earned his spot in the championship race with a win last week at Las Vegas. Christopher Bell and William Byron currently hold the other two Championship 4 spots by virtue of points. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott are below the cutoff and are at risk of elimination next week at Martinsville.