Tyler Reddick ‘will take second’ in Daytona 500

Tyler Reddick earned a runner-up finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 Sunday, avoiding collection in a last-lap crash that took out leader Denny Hamlin and other front runners.

Reddick was scored 13th on the white flag lap behind eventual race-winner William Byron as the two raced in the fourth and fifth spots in the middle lane down the backstretch.

Once race leader Denny Hamlin, front runners Austin Cindric and Cole Custer, and other started to wreck, Byron and Reddick raced along the outside retaining wall into Turn 3, clearing the carnage.

“I knew that me and the 24 (William Byron) had a good run and they were throwing big blocks, and when they started spinning on the inside and I had a run on the 24, I thought, man, if I can just make it through on the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and not scrub my speed, I would have had at least an opportunity to do something,” Reddick said.

Hamlin’s front fender made contact with the left side of Reddick’s racecar, but the 23XI Racing driver continued on to race to the finish, coming home about two car lengths behind Byron (.113-second margin).

Prior to 2025, Reddick’s highest finish in the Daytona 500 in his prior seven races was 27th on two occasions (2019 and 2021) and his first lead lap finish in the race.

“All in all, I never really finished a race here unless it was 40 laps down, so I’ll take second,” Reddick said. “We wanted to get a good start to the year, and we scored a lot of points today. So, I’m really happy with everyone’s effort on this No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry.”

Thanks to his accumulation of points in the Duels Thursday and stages Sunday, Reddick is fourth in points, seven points behind leader Ryan Blaney entering next weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.