There’s a new leader in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, and his name is Tyler Reddick.
Reddick picked up his second win of the season in the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Monday, Aug. 19, at Michigan International Speedway and leapfrogged Kyle Larson for the points lead.
After weather on Sunday postponed the race with 51 laps complete, Reddick survived a pair of overtime finishes after Martin Truex Jr. slammed the turn 4 wall with six laps to go. William Byron looked to have a strong push from the top lane on the final restart, but Reddick pulled ahead thanks to a push from Toyota teammate Ty Gibbs.
“Just great teammates,” Reddick said in a post-race interview with USA Network. “I got a fantastic push from Ty Gibbs, and that’s what it’s all about. The Toyota racing family tries to take care of each other.”
Reddick now leads Chase Elliott by 10 points in the standings after collecting his seventh-straight finish of sixth or better.
After the race, Reddick dedicated the win to dirt racing mentor Scott Bloomquist, who died in a plane crash on Aug. 16.
“I can’t help but sit here in victory lane and think of Scott Bloomquist,” Reddick said. “Huge mentor to me, an incredible role model and legend of motorsports. The last couple days have been tough and this really helps it. This win should go to him, his family, his friends and I know it would mean a lot to them.”
Byron finished runner-up at just 0.168 seconds behind Reddick. The No. 24 Chevy now has five top-five finishes since its last win at Martinsville Speedway.
“I’ll relive that restart and choose the top overnight for sure,” Byron said. “As the leader, you want to take the top but I’ve gotten beaten twice by the bottom and I had the lead over the bottom. But he had a better car than us, so he was a little bit faster. Second sucks but I’m really proud of the effort.”
Gibbs took third, Kyle Busch finished fourth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
Chris Buescher, Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin and Carson Hocevar made up the rest of the top 10.
Drivers at the playoff cut line all saw issues shakeup their positioning with two races remaining in the regular season. Bubba Wallace and Buescher were involved in a lap 115 accident, with Wallace’s performance severely hindered the rest of the day. Ross Chastain saw a good points day upended on the first overtime attempt when he spun into the turn 3 grass.
Chastain finished 25th while Wallace followed him across the line in 26th, putting Chastain above the cut line by just one point over Wallace. Buescher leaves Michigan 16 points above the cut line.
The race began on Sunday with Hamlin starting on pole and battling Larson and Wallace for the lead early. His day was shaken up with a spin off turn 4 on lap 39.
Ryan Blaney went on to win stage one with Chase Elliott, Byron, Wallace and Buescher making up the rest of the top five. With the stage break came, another round of rain showers that ultimately forced the postponement of the event.
When the racing resumed on Monday morning, Busch and Elliott battled for the lead early in stage two until Truex caught the duo. When green-flag pit stops cycled out later in the run, Larson had taken the top spot.
The caution waved on lap 109 for a trio of incidents at nearly the same time. Todd Gilliland blew a tire the lap before Joey Logano had the carcass of one of his tires fall off. AJ Allmendinger also had a tire failure that caused him to spin down the frontstretch.
The calamity continued on the ensuing restart. Larson spun off turn 4 in front of the field, and several drivers piled in. Christopher Bell, Gilliland, Larson and Logano all received race-ending damage. Wallace, Buescher and Chase Briscoe all picked up damage but were able to continue.
The wreck effectively ended stage two, with Busch picking up the win. Chastain, Gibbs, Byron and Austin Dillon made up the top-five finishers.
Corey LaJoie became the second driver to get airborne at Michigan this weekend on lap 135, turning upside down on the backstretch following a spin.
Cup Michigan Results
The Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 24, for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. TV coverage on NBC is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET with the green flag set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.
The 19 didn’t slam the wall. The in-car camera showed he barely touched it. When the car was in the pits there was no visible damage and the crew didn’t touch the body when they changed tires. It hit the right rear which usually results in the car going faster. It was NA$CAR getting the caution for the GWC they wanted for their game 7 moment and the chance for more carnage and highlights for their ads.