After winning the opening stage by staying out, Tyler Reddick restarted deep in the field for Stage 2. When Austin Dillon spun in the tight Turn 7 just ahead, Reddick was entering the corner too hot and started to slide out of control. Reddick was slowed by slamming doors with his car owner and fellow Toyota driver Denny Hamlin, an act that lifted the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota completely off the ground and bending a toelink.
"Yeah, I thought I was gonna flip," said Reddick post-race. "I think I was behind the No. 19 [Martin Truex Jr.] just trying to work the move to the inside. I got clear of him -- I saw the No. 3 [Dillon] spun and everybody was on the binders coming to a stop. Of course, me and my boss [Hamlin] get together. Felt like I was gonna do a front flip -- this thing was absolutely destroyed. Just real hats off to everybody on this Monster Energy Camry. This thing couldn't go four seconds of what the pace was. And we just kept working on it and we made it a lot better for Stage 3."
BIG drama for regular season champion @TylerReddick as he runs into the side of his boss and fellow playoff driver @dennyhamlin! 💥🤯 #NASCARPlayoffs #NASCAR
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) October 13, 2024
🎥 @NASCARonNBC pic.twitter.com/wI4x2ZnbF4
The team managed to keep the car on the lead lap while fixing the damage to the rear of the car, replacing the right-rear toelink. He missed out on Stage 2 points, putting him in an uncomfortable position for the final half of the race.
It looked like he would be chasing after Chase Elliott for the final transfer spot, but he eventually got out of reach as the Hendrick Motorsports climbed up through the field. When Austin Dillon lost a wheel late in the race, it set up the final restart with 26 laps to go.
The final charge
Reddick's crew chief Bill Scott made the aggressive call to give up track position and pit for fresh tires, restarting the race in 26th place, 14 points behind Joey Logano. The problem for Logano is that he was already running inside the top-five, so there wasn't much else he could do pad his margin with one position equalling one point.
To make matters worse, road course aces A.J. Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen ran Logano down with fresh tires and pushed him to the backend of the top-ten.
Meanwhile, Reddick was flying. He nearly spun out with 20 laps to go, instead turning Daniel Hemric as the two cars collided in the same corner where Reddick crashed earlier. This time, Reddick escaped mostly unscathed. He continued his charge without hesitation. On Lap 100 of 109, he finally passed none other than his boss -- Hamlin -- this time without running into the side of him, finally moving above the cut-line with only nine laps to spare.
At the checkered flag, Reddick had driven from 26th to 11th on track while Logano fell back to eighth. By just four points, the driver of the No. 45 moved onward to the penultimate round while the two-time Cup champion was eliminated.
"It's tough but you just got to stay calm, stay focused," said Reddick. "In those moments, it's so easy to lose track of what you can control. Either way, I was going to drive the car as fast as I could. It just worked out for us. This thing was able to get back up through the field and get us to the good side of the NASCAR cut-line."
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan, as well as Hamlin were right there to congratulate Reddick on his strong charge to the flag and surviving yet another week of playoffs eliminations.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Alex Bowman's No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet failed post-race inspection, eliminating him from the playoffs and putting Logano back. Full story below.
