Throwing caution to the wind and shooting for the moon in overtime, #45 raced past the pack, leaving his boss Denny Hamlin stunned at the climax of the second Cup Series Playoff showdown at the Kansas Speedway.?Indeed, 23XI Racing’s unexpected triumph left not only the front-pack drivers but also the NASCAR diehards and insiders rubbing their eyes.

Many had put their money on Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, and even Bubba Wallace, considering their track records. But now, a NASCAR insider has stepped up to the plate to spill the beans on 23XI’s teamwork and the secret sauce behind their Kansas victory.

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By a hair’s breadth?or precisely 0.327 seconds?the #45 edged out his boss and Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin. Just when Hamlin seemed to have the race in the bag, having led 63 laps and looking unbeatable with over two seconds of clear road between him and the #45, fate took a wild twist. A blowout on Chris Buescher’s right-rear tire lit up the yellow for the ninth and final time, setting the stage for a nail-biting climax.?

Then, a mix of strategies laid down the golden path for the 23XI driver. With Hamlin sticking to the top and Tyler Reddick making moves from the third row’s bottom, Reddick made a bee-line for the track’s base, snatching the lead just as they blazed past the start/finish line post-Turn 4. In a last-ditch twist, Erik Jones, who finished third, threw a spanner in the works for Hamlin on the final lap, giving Reddick just the window he needed to pocket his second win of the season, his first-ever triumph on the Kansas track, and his fifth career victory.

However, reputed journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi certainly didn’t see this coming. On the contrary, they had Tyler Reddick pegged for an early playoff exit, not even breaking into the top 12. It looks like they had to eat humble pie after Reddick’s surprise victory.

But in their defense, Jordan Bianchi noted, “They [Tyler Reddick and 23XI] haven?t had consistency. They shot themselves on the foot many times, and I said going to the playoffs, this was a team that had a really, really high ceiling where they could roll off to victories, and I could see them running championship at Phoenix, and I could see them going out on the first one?the first round?because of three consecutive miscues. There was no middle ground, it felt like, for what this team could do, and it was fair either way.”

Ironically, even Reddick seemed to have been caught off guard by his eleventh-hour maneuver. Reflecting on his win, he hailed the rocket-like speed of his car and expressed a wish for a consistent ride in races to come.

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Tyler Reddick hopes to be consistent with the strategies

Tyler Reddick, despite the adrenaline of the recent win, seems to be adopting a more measured approach. As noted by Jordan Bianchi, the 23XI team has occasionally missed the mark on strategic plays. Reddick’s post-race chat echoed a similar sentiment.

Channeling a steady hand, he remarked, “I think we have enough speed. […] But I think just for all of us, just pull it back a little bit; let?s have some consistent days. We have enough speed to still get points, and we are working on that.”

The race’s aftershocks shook the NASCAR hierarchy, causing heavyweights like Martin Truex Jr to bite the dust, ending up 36th and sliding down seven points below the golden ticket to the Round of 12. As the engines roar at Bristol, all eyes will be on Reddick now after his unexpected win at Kansas. Will he ride the wave of his recent success or shift gears toward a more consistent play? Only time and the track will tell.

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