HOMESTEAD, Fla. — It is hard to forget having a flip in a race car, but Tyler Reddick swears he put his from last week out of his mind.
Just seven days after an aggressive move went awry and his car flipped in the Las Vegas grass, Reddick made another aggressive move — this time to perfection — to capture the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and vault him into a spot in the Championship 4.
Reddick, on slightly older tires, made a move from up against the wall to pass Ryan Blaney — who one lap earlier had passed Denny Hamlin for the top spot — in the final turns for the win. "I was very fortunate that I was left the top [lane] at my favorite track, my favorite corner," Reddick said. "I Just took a risk, and it paid off. " I don't know what else really to say." The 23XI Racing driver entered the race 30 points below the cutline but with the victory (and the automatic bid that goes with it), joins Vegas winner Joey Logano to be among the four drivers who will compete for the Cup title Nov.
10 at Phoenix. The two remaining spots will be filled next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Reddick, whose team is co-owned by driver Denny Hamlin and basketball icon Michael Jordan, didn’t seem to have any problem forgetting his woes of a week earlier to take a tongue-out GOAT-like shot for the win. "We're kind of crazy to some degree," Reddick said about the racer’s mentality. "My first lap in the car after flipping it, I drive off into Turn 3 and 4 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.