LAS VEGAS, Nev.: The regular-season NASCAR Cup Series points leader Tyler Reddick was one of the favorites to win Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, but the 23XI Racing driver saw his race flip literally within minutes in the opening race of the Round of 8.
Reddick, who qualified on the outside pole alongside Toyota teammate Christopher Bell exercised patience and delivered a much-welcomed Stage 1 win in Sin City.
Moments later though, his race went upside – for real.
On Lap 89, Reddick had a run on the outside as the cars screamed off Turn 4 making a bold three-wide move with Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. beneath him.
The space between the cars shrunk within matters of a second when contact was made between Elliott and Reddick, sending both drivers spinning across the frontstretch, collecting Brad Keselowski in the process.
Reddick’s slide transformed into a unthinkable flip and eventually roll as it slid sideways over the transition between the infield quarter-mile asphalt track and the grass.
Despite his attempt to drive his battered No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry back to pit road, the car suffered to much suspension and body damage to continue putting Reddick out of the race in an event he finished eighth in 2023.
Reddick and Elliott weren’t the only Playoff drivers involved in one of the few incidents at the 1.5-mile speedway Sunday.
As Keselowski’s car careened back up the track, the Team Penske duo drivers of Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric slammed the outside wall to avoid the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver.
Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang suffered a broken toe link in the process, Cindric failed to get his No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang up to minimum speed on the restart and was forced to retire.
Elliott after initially meeting minimum speed went to the garage for extensive repairs and later returned to the race, many laps down. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet returned to the garage inside the final 10 laps of the race, ending their day.
Reddick who settled for a 36th place finish and finds himself sixth in the championship standings and 30 points in the arrears to the coveted fourth and final spot available for the Championship 4 – currently occupied by William Byron took responsibility for his involvement after being evaluated and released from the infield care center.
“Yeah, you just have to be aggressive on restarts,” said Reddick. “It’s how the Next Gen racing has been from the beginning. I kind of saw them both have a moment, and I just had to split second make a decision. You have to be aggressive on the restart. It is hard to pass after a while.
“Being myself on a mile and a half, being aggressive – by the time I realized I was in trouble, the No. 19 (Truex Jr.) started sliding and the No. 9 (Elliott) was coming up and I was pretty much already on their outside at that point, with nowhere to really go.”
Suffering just his third DNF (did not finish) of the year, Reddick is preparing to bounce back for his upcoming Oct. 27 trip to Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
“I needed to make the decision earlier when I saw them sliding to be more conservative to avoid an incident – just not who I am, but it is unfortunate,” added Reddick. “It took us out of the race. We had a really, really fast Jordan Brand Toyota Camry, probably would have been in the mix all race long, but we will go to Homestead – a place where I have had to get it done before and go for it there.”
If there was a positive to come out of Las Vegas on Sunday for Reddick and his No. 45 team, it was winning 10 stage points. But, even with the stage points, Reddick knows the upcoming races in the Round of 8 at Homestead and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway have to be flawless.
“We can still have a good day at Homestead and be in the mix in Martinsville,” sounded Reddick. “Ideally, yeah, it would have been nice to win today.
“It would be nice to win next week, and that is what we will focus on, but thankfully we got 10 stage points in stage one, and it’s not like we are absolutely out of it on points, yet. We are going to have to be perfect here on out, probably.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
