Who… should you be talking about after the race?
Entering the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, things looked bleak for the drivers entering below the cut line with two races to go to decide who will be eligible for this year’s Cup Series title.
But Tyler Reddick didn’t get the memo that he was out of contention. Reddick kicked off the weekend by winning the pole. He followed that up by winning the opening stage, scoring those points as well as fourth-place points in stage two.
As the laps wound down, though, Reddick didn’t have the same speed, so he and his team tried the strategy game, staying out to lead late when the rest of the field made their final stops, hoping for a caution. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but the caution flew as the No. 45 team completed its final stop, allowing Reddick to restart up front with just a couple of laps on his tires.
He fell back on the restart as Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney got more bite on new tires, but was able to stay close as they battled for the lead. On the final lap, Reddick made a bold, last-ditch move for the lead … and absolutely stuck it.
Reddick joins Joey Logano in the title race with just two spots left up for grabs.
And don’t forget AJ Allmendinger.
Allmendinger, a contender for the Xfinity Series title, started 32nd on Sunday (Oct. 27). He worked his way steadily forward. By the end of stage two, Allmendinger was 10th. He finished the day an impressive eighth.
For Allmendinger, it’s only about the bragging rights and some positive momentum as he fights for the Xfinity title. He returns to the Cup Series full-time next year though, and runs like had on Sunday illustrate why.
What… is the big question leaving this race in the rearview?
Another week, another questionable officiating call from NASCAR.
This time, the call came Saturday (Oct. 26) in the Craftsman Truck Series race, after Conner Jones intentionally wrecked Matt Mills with a radio tirade to prove it. Mills’ truck slammed the wall and burst into flames. As of Sunday night, Mills remained hospitalized.
Jones’ penalty? Two laps on pit road. Not the rest of the race.
Two laps. For putting another driver in the hospital.
While the incident happened in the Truck race, the way NASCAR handled it potentially impacts the entire sport. In 2022 and 2023, NASCAR appeared to be cracking down on intentional wrecks, with penalties that included suspensions if the evidence was compelling enough.
So why has the sanctioning body backtracked on that?
The reduction in penalties began earlier this year, dropping hefty fines and point deductions but not handing out any suspensions.
And then Saturday happened … and Jones barely got a slap on the wrist for the most blatant incident of the year. NASCAR still has a chance to make it right by levying a major penalty to Jones this week, but that seems unlikely given that he wasn’t parked.
Was the punishment so light because it was the Truck Series? Because Mills doesn’t race for one of the wealthier teams? Or is it just another quiet withdrawal from punishing drivers for incidents that make fans talk and raise the TV ratings, no matter the cost?
NASCAR had it right with these incidents a year ago. It’s too bad they got it so wrong this time around.
Where… did the other key players wind up?
Active Homestead win leader Hamlin entered the weekend well below the playoff cut line but looked like he was ready to stage a comeback, qualifying fourth and leading three times for 21 total laps. Hamlin won stage two on tire strategy and had the car to beat late in the going, taking over the lead on the final restart only to be passed by Blaney, then Reddick as the two went on to battle for the win, leaving Hamlin in third.
It was a great day for Hamlin, but not good enough to move into the top four in points. He heads to Martinsville Speedway 18 points on the wrong side of the championship cutoff, but he’s the winningest active driver at The Paperclip.
Defending race winner Christopher Bell hasn’t had a win since New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June and entered the weekend looking for momentum. He leaves Homestead with a little bit — he finished the opening stages in sixth and third, then came home fourth on the day after leading three laps. Bell is a comfortable 29 points to the good heading to the final elimination.
Last week’s winner Logano said before the race that he and his team were already focused on Phoenix Raceway, but after a 28th-place performance at HMS, Logano and Co. may need to find a little momentum next week, or they’ll enter the final race in a mini slump and the last race might not be enough to dig them out.
When… was the moment of truth?
Final pit stops turned the race into a strategy game.
Most of the leaders, headed by Blaney, went with conventional wisdom, pitting on the early side of the final window and banking on no caution flag and fresh rubber cycling them back to the front.
The No. 11 team waited long enough to gain a real tire advantage — even a couple of laps on tires was a detriment, so by holding out, Hamlin hoped to run the leaders back down. It had worked earlier in the race, bringing Hamlin the stage two win, but this time he had a bigger gap to make up. By the time he erased about half of it, the tire advantage has waned significantly, though Hamlin was able to continue to cut into the lead.
Reddick didn’t have the speed that he’d had in the first stage, and his only shot at the win he needed to move on was to stay out as long as he could with the race lead and hope for a caution.
His luck almost ran out, but the yellow flag flew for Kyle Larson’s late spin, and with just two laps on his tires, Reddick stayed out to retake the lead while the rest of the field pitted for fresh tires. The move almost bit him; two laps on his tires was still two laps, but in the end his unconventional strategy became the winning call.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
With just one race to go before the championship finalists will duke it out for the title, the heat is on to make the cut at Martinsville Speedway.
Martinsville is a tough place to make up any significant ground, because it’s hard to work your way forward and the leaders will start lapping slower cars very quickly.
Add the Next Gen car’s struggles to be competitive on short tracks and it could be a long day for would-be championship contenders on the bubble.
It isn’t that drivers can’t make any headway, because they can. It will take qualifying at or very near the front and staying there, or throwing an absolute Hail Mary in strategy. But at least one playoff driver can control his own destiny.
It’s also one of just two more chances for drivers with something other than a title to prove. Kyle Busch still has a 20-year win streak on the line. Martin Truex Jr. will close out his full-time racing career this year. Both have multiple Martinsville wins, and either one could dig deep and pull out one more.
Martinsville is a track drivers tend to either love or hate, but anyone who needs a win to make their season had better make peace with the track this week, because 500 tough laps lie between them and their goals.
How… come Homestead doesn’t host the title race anymore?
Even before the Next Gen car made intermediate track racing the best it’s been in decades, HMS hosted some pretty solid races as the season finale. It’s a step up from the other 1.5-mile tracks and its location means cold weather isn’t an issue.
Sure, NASCAR spent a lot of money revitalizing Phoenix and it’s a beautiful, fan-friendly facility. It’s a great destination track; Phoenix has a ton to offer and it’s beautiful in the surrounding desert.
But the racing doesn’t live up to the championship hype.
It’s unlikely that fans will be treated to the type of finish they saw Sunday at HMS. The Next Gen is at its weakest at flat tracks like Phoenix. Considering that not many drivers outside the Championship 4 are willing to race them very hard (or at all), that’s not a recipe for a memorable finish.
It would be an easy fix to swap the two tracks on the schedule. Phoenix is a decent test for teams because they have to hit the setup off the bat to contend. The garage setup allows fans lucky enough to score passes outstanding access, and that’s also something that’s maybe not a great thing for teams on championship weekend.
But for the title race? Take it back to Miami.
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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Kind of stupid to bring up that Mills was sent to the hospital when discussing the 2 lap penalty. At the time of the penalty, he had not yet been sent to the hospital, and unless you think NASCAR has some ability to see the future, they couldn’t have possibly known that he would be. If Mills had simply spun like Haley did after very similar type of contact from Gibbs in the cup race, nobody would be calling for Jones to be suspended in general, it’s only being brought up because of how the accident turned out. While he did intentionally wreck him, It’s not like he right hooked him into the wall like Elliot at Charlotte last year, which NASCAR treats more harshly than other types of wrecks.
and so the hamlin choke begins.
i hope so. I don’t want to see him in the 4 drivers. Sorry to you Hamlin fans but that’s how I feel
Why didn’t Blaney stay against the wall on the last lap?
There is only one logical explanation for NA$CAR moving the last event to 3/4 mile Phoenix and that is a monetary one, the only thing that NA$CAR cares about.
I’m happy Martinsville is back to 500 laps.
I wish Phoenix was 400 laps, though. Or I agree with swapping the Phoenix and Homestead races, make Homestead the finale again.
The finale should be at HMS as PIR is a boring track and never lives up to the hype with this kit car On the plus side it’s fitting that MJs team competes and hopefully wins the championship inspite of NASCAR court case Adds more fuel to the fire as this is no longer a sport but entertainment