Tyler Reddick finishes very close second in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson led the most laps in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas but Tyler Reddick nearly spoiled the No. 5 team’s party.

Reddick’s second-place finish was under a half-a-second from being a victory. He cut the gap down to the No. 5 car to under a car length but couldn’t find a way around the best car in the field. 

“They would’ve had to have make a big mistake or had some traffic,” Reddick said. “It was a solid effort for our team. That’s how we need to run but I don’t like running second.” 

Reddick did everything he could to get a run to pass Larson. He changed his lines in each corner but Larson dirtied the air to prevent the pass. 

“No, it was just dirty air,” Reddick said. “We’ve been saying it since day one with this car. The wake isn’t as wide, but you never want to follow someone into the corner. The air is so turbulent.” 

The No. 45 car had the best long run speed in the field, making up ground late in each stage Sunday. He finished second in both stages, adding up to a great points day for Reddick. 

He had trouble getting out of his pit stall early in the race, putting him back to 16th early in stage two. The speed of the No.45 car allowed them to recover from the slip up and get back into contention quickly. 

After the race, Larson gave a nod to his fiercest competitor on Sunday. 

“I have a lot of fun racing Tyler,” Larson said. “We’ve grown up together racing. We’ve had great races back to when we were like seven, eight years old, so it’s cool to have another fellow northern Californian from the outlaw car ranks racing up front on Sundays.” 

Reddick now sits +16 to the cutline and -34 to Larson at the top of the points standings. 

Reddick now heads to Phoenix for the Shriners Children’s 500, where he’ll look to build off his solid performance in Las Vegas. The green flag in Phoenix is set to fly at 3:30 P.M. EST on FOX, MRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.