Reddick’s aggressive pass on last lap clinches NASCAR race at Homestead, spot in Championship 4

Tyler Reddick passed Ryan Blaney on the final turn, zooming past him along the wall to win the Straight Talk Wireless 400 in a thrilling finish Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reddick went around Blaney, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, to beat him by 0.241 seconds. Denny Hamlin finished third, 0.568 seconds back.

Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott finished third and fourth, respectively.

Reddick, Blaney, and Hamlin entered the final lap dueling for the lead, with Reddick positioned third.

“We were backed in a corner, man. We had no other choice,” Reddick said of his bold move to overtake Blaney. “I know we were on tire deficit. Here at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that’s a death sentence. We did what it took to win this race. We were going to do what it took to win this race.”

Said Blaney: “Obvious disappointment. I had a great shot to win and I didn’t have a very good last lap. I hate to give one away like that. It’s a shame. I’ll be picking through it all night to see what I should have done differently.”

With his first career win at Homestead, Reddick locked up a berth in the Championship 4 race Nov. 10 in Phoenix. Joey Logano secured the first spot by winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week ago. Reddick, the regular season champion, started Sunday’s race sixth in the playoff standings, 30 points below the cutline.

The little kid drove his ass off,” Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing, said of his 5-foot-5, 125-pound driver. “I’m proud of him.”

Reddick’s eighth career win Sunday was his third this season. It was his fourth top-10 finish in five races at Homestead.

Hamlin captured Stage 2 of the 267-lap race, denying Elliott his first stage victory since the season’s first stage. The two fought for the lead in the final laps of Stage 2, which ended with playoff drivers holding the top six positions. Only Logano and and Kyle Larson lagged.

“Controlling the race with two to go, you’ve got to try to find a way to finish it,” Hamlin said. “Just didn’t.”

Reddick won the first stage, with Bubba Wallace and Elliott right behind him.

The race started with a yellow caution on the first lap. Justin Haley spun out on Turn 3 after he made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while trying to cut in front of him.

It happened ahead of Elliott, who avoided Haley along with the rest of the drivers, a few of whom steered into the infield to bypass Haley’s smoking No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro.

Elliott was involved in a three-car crash with Reddick and Ryan Blaney — an accident caused by Reddick — one week earlier in Las Vegas.

Haley spun out for a second time Sunday after a collision with Ty Gibbs in Stage 3. He started the race in the No. 10 position after his best qualifying session of the season.

Later, Chris Buescher spun on pit road during a stop after Stage 1 due to contact from Stenhouse Jr.