(Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tyler Reddick brought his No. 45 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing home in third Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but left South Beach deflated. Despite nearly contending for the win, his mind went back to early in the race — when the team didn’t capitalize as well on stage points.
With just one race remaining in the Round of 8, the 27-year-old from Corning, California, sits 10 points below the cutline.
“It was a frustrating day. I was really hoping we were going to get a little more out of that,” Reddick explained after the race. “The finish was what we needed, but we didn’t run as well as we wanted to all day, which was the disappointing part.
“It’s been a gripe of mine ever since we went to the composite body on the Cup side. Everyone runs the fence, and there’s no penalty when you have a mistake and hit the wall. Everyone just ran up there and hit it all day long. Gotta be more willing to take that risk in this car as there’s no penalty.”
Reddick started third in Sunday’s 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 and dropped down to seventh at the end of each stage — recording a total of eight points. Other playoff drivers, however, scored more points than him. William Byron, who’s currently third in the standings, finished fourth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. Ryan Blaney, who sits fourth, finished third in Stage 1 and won Stage 2.
However, Reddick got points got help from Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. later in the race. On Lap 236, Hamlin suffered a mechanical failure in his steering and hit the wall, ending his race. During the caution, Truex’s engine expired, also cutting his day short. Both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers sit below the cutline.
On the restart with 25 laps to go, Reddick charged from sixth up to third, but couldn’t get close enough to battle Christopher Bell for the win. He caught Byron in the closing laps and nearly tracked down Blaney for second but still settled for a podium finish.
Reddick ended up notching his third top 10 in a row. He finished sixth in the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL before opening up the semifinal round with an eighth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Martinsville Speedway is all that seperates Reddick from his first Championship 4 berth. The two-time Xfinity Series champion has finished in the top 10 once in seven Cup starts at the 0.526-mile short track — that came in 2021. He finished 22nd in the 400-lap spring race.
The Xfinity 500 is set for Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Christopher Bell, who clinched his Championship 4 spot by winning at Homestead, is the defending winner. Kyle Larson won in the spring.
