Playoff drivers win out at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tyler Reddick scored the biggest win of his young career Sunday, winning the Hollywood Casino 400 and advancing to the Round of 12.
It’s the first time Reddick has won a playoff race as a playoff-eligible driver. His breakthrough win wasn’t drama-free, either.
After green flag stops midway through stage three, Reddick’s team owner Denny Hamlin cruised away from him.
With seven laps to go, Chris Buescher had a right-rear tire go flat. That forced the caution and erased Hamlin’s 3-second advantage.
Daniel Suarez stayed out. Meanwhile, Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch each took two tires – putting Denny Hamlin restarting fifth and Reddick seventh.
Reddick quickly maneuvered to third. Then, as Jones and Logano took the white flag side-by-side, Reddick boldly took them three-wide on the bottom and snagged the win.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (playoff drivers in bold): Tyler Reddick, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman
Reddick earned the third win for the No. 45 car in the last four Kansas races. Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace won last spring and fall, respectively, and earned the No. 45 a clean Kansas sweep.
It is the first win for Reddick since Circuit of the Americas in March and it highlights his recent hot streak. Including the Kansas win, he has only two finishes outside of the top-five.
Atop the playoff standings, ahead of Reddick, is Kyle Larson.
Larson led the most laps (99) and claimed stage one Sunday.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 80): Larson, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick
On lap 114, Larson lost control of the race after restarting on the inside lane.
Larson slid far enough back to where he didn’t even get stage points in stage two.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 165): Keselowski, Hamlin, Elliott, Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Bell
After a quick caution at the start of stage three, on lap 174, Kyle Larson was in 13th. Seeing what other teams had done, crew chief Cliff Daniels brought Larson in for new tires.
Lucky for them, the race went green for 82 laps and gave Larson a chance to go from 26th to seventh.
In overtime, Larson gained two more spots and finished fourth.
PLAYOFF DRIVERS THROUGH THE FIELD
Kevin Harvick (11th), Ryan Blaney (12th), Ross Chastain (13th) and William Byron (15th) finished Sunday inside the top-15.
The other five playoff drivers finished 23rd or worse: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (23rd), Michael McDowell (26th), Chris Buescher (27th), Bubba Wallace (32nd), Martin Truex Jr. (36th – last)
Stenhouse lacked pace throughout the race, averaging a 23rd-place running position and only spending 12 laps inside the top-15.
McDowell ran a little better than Stenhouse but also lacked pace. He finished 26th after staying out longer than others, hoping to catch a caution.
Buescher finished behind McDowell after blowing a tire late. He finished ninth in stage two and ran inside the top-10.
Wallace and Truex had similar issues as Buescher – on laps five and 109, respectively.
- Good day goes awry for Bubba Wallace at Kansas
- Martin Truex Jr. on the verge of historic elimination at Bristol
The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Bristol for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The Round of 16 cutoff race goes green Saturday, September 16, just after 7:30 p.m. ET.
Chris Buescher is the defending winner.
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