How a Botched Move Almost Gifted Tyler Reddick the First Win of the Season

It took him a little time, but Kyle Larson is back doing what he does best; winning races in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Hendrick Motorsports star edged out Tyler Reddick in Vegas to book his place in this year’s round of 16. However, things could have ended a lot differently had the driver of the #5 not been smart enough to block the 23XI Racing driver with just a couple of laps remaining.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway has become quite a good track for the Hendrick Motorsports star who had last year’s playoff race there as well. Kyle Larson is considered being one of the most skilled and versatile of anyone in the competition today, so it was a bit surprising to not see him near the front of the pack in the first couple of races. But all those doubts have been laid to rest.

Kyle Larson reveals where Tyler Reddick had his best chance

One of the most intriguing bits of the Pennzoil 400 was the fight between Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson. Both are highly skilled and intelligent racers who know how to play the long game. Things got interesting in the final few laps of the event as the 23XI Racing driver slowly made up to the back bumper of the HMS man. And with less than 10 laps remaining, Larson made an error of judgment.

“I thought I had a decent gap with 8-ish laps left and I was like okay I need to go up top in 3 and 4 to try to build some momentum and that was the wrong move and it really allowed him to get much closer to me and then I was like now I gotta block, air block…tried in 1 and 2, 3 or 4 laps left, he was running a little bit higher than me in 1 and 2 and I was trying to take his airway and really mess his angle up off of 2 but it didn’t hurt that bad and he was close to me in 3 and 4 or down the backstretch,” Larson explained.

This was a golden opportunity for Tyler Reddick to get the job done. He had closed the gap to the former Cup Series champion and, by the looks of it, had the faster car. The man who went as far as the round of 8 in last year’s playoff with a chance to seal his spot in this year’s round of 16 in only the third round. It would have been a wonderful night for 23XI.

But this is Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports we’re talking about and they barely ever go down without a fight. And fight he did.

Former Cup Series driver’s experience pays dividends in Vegas

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After realizing that he had handed the advantage to his rival, Yung Money’s quick thinking came into play. All these years of driving different types of race cars surely add a lot to one’s repertoire. With just 2 laps remaining, as Reddick was behind through turns 3 and 4, Larson calmly moved in front of him and completely ruined his momentum. Then there was one lap to go, and it was game over, just like that.

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“I don’t know what happened that next corner but there with 2 to go, he expected me to run the middle or top or something and I was able to do a nice lazy arc to the bottom and take his air away in 3 and 4, got him tight, yeah that killed his run down the front stretch and thankfully that was the white flag so I knew as long as I hit my marks, I was going to be safe to the checker,” the HMS star added.

Tyler Reddick must have been absolutely devastated at how things ended. He was so close and yet he lost out on a chance to get the job done. But the 23XI star can be proud of his performance on Sunday. The #45 is rapid, and if it can keep up with an HMS car with Larson inside, it can keep up with anyone.

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