Reddick wins at Michigan and takes points lead

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick secured his second victory of the season and the seventh of his career in a dramatic weather-delayed race that ended in double overtime on Monday. This race led to yet another significant shift in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs standings.

Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota managed to pull away from William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the second overtime restart, narrowly holding off both Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs to clinch the win by a slim margin of .168 seconds. This victory also broke Ford’s nine-race winning streak at the historic 2-mile track.

“Just great teammate and a fantastic push from Ty Gibbs, the Toyota racing family tries to take care of each other,” said Reddick, who dedicated his win to longtime family friend and dirt late model racing legend Scott Bloomquist, who had tragically passed away in a plane accident just days earlier. Byron, a three-time winner this season and the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, questioned his decision to start on the high side of the front row next to Reddick during that final restart, having previously started on the bottom lane.

“I will relive that restart and what lane to choose overnight for sure,” Byron said. “It seems like always as the leader you want to take the top, but I’ve gotten beat twice here by the bottom and I had the lead on the bottom barely over him.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch finished fourth, leading 24 laps in what was one of his better performances this season. Although the two-time series champion is still over 100 points out of the playoff standings and striving to extend a record 19-year winning streak in the series, Monday’s performance marked some positive momentum for the No. 8 team as they enter the final stretch of the regular season.

“Overall, just net positive on the weekend, being better on speed and up front and having a shot anyways, but we ran top 10 all day,” said Busch, whose Stage 2 victory marked his and RCR’s first stage win of the year.

RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski, an owner-driver, and Chris Buescher finished fifth and sixth respectively, making them the top-finishing Fords. Keselowski had hoped to secure a win at his home-state track for the first time in 28 starts there. Meanwhile, Buescher’s sixth-place finish was a significant achievement after two days of ups and downs, improving his position in the championship standings to 15th out of the 16 playoff-eligible drivers—now 16 points above the cutoff line. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain moved into the 16th and final playoff spot, holding a slim one-point advantage over 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.

Chastain, who caused a caution in the first overtime, had been 12 points above the playoff cut line when the first overtime began. This was just one example of the relentless action that spanned from Sunday’s green flag and red flags to Monday’s checkered flag. The race resumed on Monday at Lap 52, and the intensity continued with 16 different race leaders and 26 lead changes overall.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, who led the points standings prior to Michigan, was taken out early after triggering a seven-car wreck on Lap 116 by misjudging a pass on Wallace. The incident involved 2023 Michigan winner Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Todd Gilliland to varying extents. While Larson, Bell, Logano, and Gilliland were sidelined, Buescher’s Mustang managed to continue despite several challenges. His team brought him in for two new tires during the final caution, enabling him to race back to that sixth-place finish.

Larson’s error significantly impacted the Regular Season Championship, with race winner Reddick now leading by 10 points over Chase Elliott, who led some laps but finished 15th. Denny Hamlin’s recovery during the race moved him into third place, 28 points behind Reddick, while Larson dropped to fourth, 32 points behind with only two races remaining to determine who will win the regular-season title and the crucial 15-point playoff bonus.

The Cup Series will return on Saturday night for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.