Playoff drivers held their breath for the Homestead-Miami Speedway race. Veterans like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson felt confident, considering their past stellar history. Hamlin owned three wins while Larson boasted one win at the Florida track. Ryan Blaney was also in contention, owning three top-fives at the track. But their expectations took a nosedive shortly after the start of the Straight Talk Wireless 400. The 1.5-mile oval witnessed Tyler Reddick putting up a jaw-dropping performance in the final two laps.

And this thrilling turn of events was aided by miscalculations by Hamlin and his rivals. The matter turns more embarrassing as the win slipped past right under their noses. Both Hamlin and Blaney led the race with 1-2 laps to go, but could not sustain that.

Denny Hamlin gets labeled for Homestead slip-up

Going into Homestead, Denny Hamlin harbored the strongest expectations. With 13 top-tens and 5 top-fives accompanying three wins, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver believed he could control the story. He hung around the front league, winning Stage 2. The final restart on lap 255 vaulted Hamlin to the lead, and he knew what he needed to do to maintain it. But Ryan Blaney made a pass on him – Hamlin slid against the wall to try to regain the track position but to no avail. Then Hamlin’s own driver at 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick, zoomed past both of them within one lap to seal the victory.

Cup racing legend Kyle Petty had a simple term to label the turn of events at Miami – ‘stupidity.’ He said in a recent NASCAR video: “Here’s what I want to talk about after Miami: stupidity – people making bad decisions.” Petty harped on Denny Hamlin’s failure to execute what he claimed on the radio he would. “That last restart, Denny Hamlin takes control of the race. He said, ‘Controlled the race with 2 to go. You gotta find a way to finish.’ And he just didn’t. He led with a couple of laps to go…then the last lap, the 12 gets by.” Even Ryan Blaney could not maintain the speed: “Ryan Blaney leads. Oh my gosh, this is the Cinderella story, it’s a repeat champion! But listen, it’s Tyler Reddick! …What was Ryan Blaney thinking? Block, block, block…stupid move.”

Then Kyle Larson also did not escape Petty’s rant. The HMS star’s day faltered right from lap 47 when he hit the wall and fell back to 24th place. A flat right-rear tire kept him out of contention well into stage 2. But in the final stage, he was back battling for the lead with Blaney – yet somehow wrecked himself on lap 255. “We also saw Kyle Larson drive off in there earlier to cause this caution three-wide…Stupidity reigned at Miami,” Petty said. In the meantime, Petty hailed Tyler Reddick’s superior moves. “We saw what he did at the Roval…he carried his car back up through there just to remain in the playoffs…He runs 5 or 6 times faster in that last lap.”

And truly, Tyler Reddick’s solid fight for the 2024 championship has been remarkable.

Tyler Reddick provided some respite for Hamlin as an owner

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Both Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin are juggling responsibilities at present. On one hand, they are fighting the NASCAR lawsuit in the courtroom. On the other, they are eyeing a potential 23XI Racing championship. Tyler Reddick pocketed his third win of the season at Homestead on Sunday. But challenges sprinkled every portion of his journey. At the Charlotte Roval, he charged from the back of the field to secure a decent 11th-place finish, beating Joey Logano by one point. That fire to persist even in the face of dilemma showed at Homestead as well. Especially after a dangerous wreck jeopardizing his championship chances, Reddick was determined.

Tyler Reddick made jaws drop at practice, posting the fastest lap of 167.7 mph. That love for speed and his fire to succeed propelled him to pass both Hamlin and Blaney on the last lap. Reddick clinched the victory and put Michael Jordan in a state of ecstasy. “Little kid drove his a** off. I’m proud of him,” Jordan said. “Oh, man, he just let go. He just went for it and I’m glad. We needed it. We needed it.” “To be able to reward him with the days like we had today, it’s a true honor,” Reddick said of Jordan. “It was really cool to see how happy he was. We’re all very happy about it.” So while the NASCAR lawsuit’s fate is uncertain, Tyler Reddick makes a strong case for a potential title win.

Even though Denny Hamlin’s own championship hopes are fading, his pride as an owner may get a boost at Phoenix. Let us wait and watch Tyler Reddick post greater speeds in the following races.