Reddick impresses at Homestead with best career Cup Series finish
For Tyler Reddick, Homestead-Miami Speedway is not only where Reddick clinched his two NASCAR Xfinity Series titles in 2018 and 2019, but it is now where his best Cup Series finish, to date, has come at.
Reddick finished fourth in Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami after earning points in both stages and leading three laps in the 267-lap race.
Reddick ran in the top five for much of the night, battling no. 9 Chase Elliott, no. 12 Ryan Blaney and no. 11 Denny Hamlin who all ran in the top 5 for much of the race.
“It was just a struggle to figure out what lane would be better for me to get the lead and hold it but unfortunately, we just got a little too tight there to get all that we could get through turn 1 to make the fence,” Reddick said. “All in all, solid effort gripping the fence with three of the best and somehow we kept it out of the wall. It was a good, hard-fought battle.”
Although he started outside of the top 15, in 24th, it only took two laps for the two-time Xfinity Series champion to reach the top 15. Reddick eventually finished third in stage 1.
Reddick backed up his stage 1 performance with a second place in stage 2, but not before a daring slide job pass on no. 12 Ryan Blaney to get ahead of him near the end of the stage.
Blaney and Reddick battled again as the two of them were within a second of the leader and racing for third with under 15 laps to go, but Reddick fell back and settled for fourth.
Reddick’s fourth-place finish bested his previous career-best of seventh, which came at Darlington in May 17’s The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington.
Reddick earned 17 stage points in the race which was second only to race winner no. 11 Denny Hamlin.
Reddick leads the rookie of the year points by 70 points over no. 38 John Hunter Nemechek.
Heading into next Sunday (June 21)’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. EST; TV: FOX; Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Reddick is 17th in points, two points behind teammate no. 3 Austin Dillon, in 16th, who currently holds the final Playoff spot.
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com