Tyler Reddick stole the show in Miami. The 23XI Racing driver put on a masterclass in intermediate track racing and showed everyone why he is championship caliber. Reddick not only won the race but had to pass his team owner, Denny Hamlin, and defending champion Ryan Blaney. You might be thinking he did this over the course of the race, right? Nope. He did it all in the final lap.
It is also worth mentioning that Reddick had older tires during his pursuit of the win, which made it all the more impressive. It seems like the NASCAR world has finally taken notice of the regular season champ, as he proves he is much more than that. Reddick will join Joey Logano in Phoenix for the championship race as the community heaps praises onto him for his incredible victory.
Reddick showed impeccable moves on the last lap
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There are no two ways about the fact that Tyler Reddick’s pass on Blaney was out of this world. Four laps after Reddick pitted, both Reddick and Blaney were seen on the front row, following a caution flag for Larson. At this time, Reddick was already running on two-lap old tires. Reddick and the team were backed into a corner, and they had absolutely no choice. He continued to stay on the old tires and caught a fortunate caution with only 12 laps to go. Everybody knows that in such a dead-end situation, driving on a tire deficit, and that too at the Homestead Miami Speedway, is nothing less than a “death sentence.”
He was third on the last lap and when he got past Hamlin for second. Even though he was on old tires, Reddick managed to stick to the fence further on Turn 3, where he surpassed Ryan Blaney and made it to the top. Recounting this stellar feat on track, NASCAR insiders expressed how smooth his move was.
On Dirty Mo Media’s Instagram, Jordan Bianchi said, “Most of these races here at Homestead, as great as the racing is, it’s largely been decided, you know, by the last lap. You know who’s going to win. But to have a finish like this where a driver on older tires and somehow makes the move into turn 3 and a move you know Ryan Blaney afterwards was like I don’t know how he did it, Tyler Reddick doesn’t know how he did it, to pull that off is remarkable.”
Jordan Bianchi succinctly summed up Reddick’s display in one sentence, saying, “That is the signature moment on a highlight reel when your career is over.” Achieving this level of praise after making your first-ever Championship 4 further shows how impressive Reddick’s drive was.
Further adding, Bianchi said, “You’re going to look back at this last lap today and say, that is Tyler Reddick as a driver in a nutshell. He drove it in there, despite the circumstances on the older tires, threw down this huge herculean lap and passed not one but two drivers on the last lap and stuck his car to turn three on older tires at Homestead, and pulled it off like that’s incredible”.
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Did Tyler Reddick just redefine what it means to be a NASCAR champion with his Miami win?
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Blaney made a great mistake where left the highline open for Tyler Reddick in the final two corners. He certainly did not expect Reddick to cover that speed and make his way to the victory line. Blaney mentioned how he was in awe of Reddick’s moves and said, “didn’t know how he did it”. Statistically speaking, Reddick was about half a second faster than Blaney on the final lap while he was eight-tenths of a second faster than Denny Hamlin.
Michael Jordan is proud of Reddick’s performance at Miami
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Tyler Reddick‘s stellar performance on the Homestead Miami Speedway has attracted widespread appreciation from the NASCAR community. However, the one person who has been the most vocal about Reddick’s performance is none other than the legend Michal Jordan himself. The six-time champion NBA legend is a co-owner of Team 23XI, along with Denny Hamlin.
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Citing Reddick’s splendid performance on the track, Jordan said, “Little kid drove his a** off”. Watching Reddick make the last lap from the pit, the camera captured Jordan’s excitement and ecstasy. In an interview with NBC Sports Dave Burns, he further added, “I’m proud of him. Oh man, he just let go. He just went for it and I’m glad. We needed it. We needed it.” Jordan was so excited with this victory that he was also seen acknowledging Reddick with a tight hug as the winner moved out from his No. 45 Toyota.
With Reddick and Logano already occupying two positions out of the Top 4 contenders, there are only two seats left. Martinsville will be the decider indeed, and it will see a jaw-clenching battle between the best!
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Did Tyler Reddick just redefine what it means to be a NASCAR champion with his Miami win?