AVONDALE – A late caution and a two-tire gamble gave Tyler Reddick his first NASCAR Cup Series win in nearly six months Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, and Series leader Kyle Larson had a disastrous afternoon that turned a record-pace championship lead into a slim five-point margin.
It was Larson’s misfortune that ultimately helped Reddick capture the checkered flag.
Reddick led only the final 18 laps of the 312-lap Freeway Insurance 500, holding off polesitter Ryan Blaney by 0.801 seconds to secure his sixth victory of the season and 14th of his Cup Series career.
The decisive moment came on Lap 283 when Larson suffered a right-front tire failure and slammed into the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2 in the Phoenix Raceway tri-oval, bringing out the race’s final caution flag.
With fewer than 30 laps remaining, teams faced a critical decision: Stay out to preserve track position or pit for more grip.
Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Ty Gibbs elected to stay out, while Reddick’s crew chief Billy Scott called for new rubber for two scuffed tires on Reddick’s Toyota No. 45.
The gamble paid off as Reddick emerged ahead of the other drivers who pitted, restarting fourth behind the three drivers on older tires whom he quickly picked off, one by one.
“We weren’t really ever at the forefront of our strategy until the end of the race,” Reddick said. “I thought we had a really good Stage 3. We were just kind of in the mix, got to pit road and jumped ahead except those who didn’t pit.”
With the win, the No. 45 Toyota driver for 23XI Racing earned 61 points, moving within 56 points of Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson in the championship standings.
Larson entered Phoenix with a 49-point lead over Denny Hamlin and an average finish of 2.2, the best in NASCAR postseason history after six races.
The result carried significance beyond Victory Lane. With Phoenix hosting the seventh race of NASCAR’s renewed 10-race Chase rather than its championship finale, which it had hosted since 2020, Larson’s 34th-place finish allowed Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who finished fourth, to close within five points of the lead with three races remaining.
For Reddick, the victory ended a 23-race winless streak dating to April 19 at Kansas Speedway, after he opened the season with five victories in the first nine races.
“To go six months without getting a win, it was tough on the 45,” Reddick said. “It was really cool, the way we did it. It was a big day for us in the Chase and a big day for Rockstar Energy, our first win with them on the car, which is awesome.”
Reddick started sixth and stayed competitive all afternoon, finishing ninth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. But the championship contenders around him dominated much of the race.
Ryan Blaney led the opening 44 laps from his pole position start before a crash involving Phoenix native Michael McDowell and Riley Herbst brought out the first caution flag. Joey Logano capitalized on the ensuing pit stops, winning the opening stage on Lap 60 and sweeping the stages with another victory on Lap 185, gaining 20 points towards his championship campaign.
Bell also established himself as a contender, leading a race-high 85 laps, while Reddick and Scott worked to improve the No. 45’s balance.
“It started not terrific. I think we were just kind of maintaining the car,” Scott said. “Track position is important, as always. And then (we) worked on it at some point in Stage 2. And by the time we went through the green-flag pit cycle on Stage 2, we felt pretty good about it.”
Then came the gambit under the final caution.
When the race restarted on Lap 294, Reddick quickly worked through traffic, made an aggressive move through the field, and overtook Briscoe for the lead just one lap later.
He never relinquished the position, pulling away as Blaney moved into second.
Briscoe, seeking his third consecutive victory after taking the checkered flag first in Charlotte and Las Vegas, faded to eighth on his worn tires.
Bubba Wallace led 52 laps and looked set to contend for the win, but he took on four tires during the final caution then received a pit-road speeding penalty, dropping him to 17th.
The contrasting strategies underscored the challenges of Phoenix Raceway’s one-mile layout. Its relatively flat banking and distinctive dogleg place a premium on mechanical grip, tire management and track position. Deciding to stay out, taking two tires or changing all four can be consequential.
Several drivers, including Austin Dillon and Cody Ware, also faced tire-related problems.
Blaney led 51 laps but settled for second, with Elliott third and Bell fourth.
Corey Heim delivered another standout performance for 23XI Racing, finishing fifth after starting 36th. The part-time Cup driver, who previously won at Naval Base Coronado and Indianapolis this season, will join 23XI full-time in 2027.
While Reddick celebrated his return to Victory Lane, the championship picture shifted dramatically.
Larson entered Phoenix with a 49-point advantage over second-place Hamlin, but struggled from the outset after qualifying 22nd. An early two-tire strategy failed to improve his position, and he finished both stages outside the top 10 without earning any stage points.
His late crash ended an already difficult afternoon.
Hamlin also suffered a costly setback. Running near the front during the final stage, he experienced a right-rear tire failure on Lap 221, forcing an unscheduled green-flag pit stop. A subsequent speeding penalty compounded his problems, leaving him 28th at the finish.
Bell capitalized on both drivers’ misfortunes. His fourth-place finish and 16 stage points moved him into second in the Chase with 2,365 points, just five behind Larson’s 2,370.
Briscoe climbed to third, 24 points behind Larson, while Hamlin slipped to fourth, 31 points back. Blaney sits fifth at 40 points behind the leader, followed by Logano at 44 and Reddick at 56.
In total, seven drivers are separated by just 56 points entering the final three races.
Despite the implications of Larson’s crash, Scott said the No. 45 team remained focused on its own performance rather than tracking the changing championship standings during the race.
“No, we didn’t mention it at all,” Scott said when asked whether he informed Reddick of Larson’s accident and its implications. “Honestly, somebody did bring it up to me on our intercom, but I didn’t even really realize there are so many up there that are within striking distance of him.”
The Chase now heads to Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama on Oct. 25, then to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Nov. 1. It ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
With Talladega’s unpredictable superspeedway racing next on the calendar, Larson’s once-commanding advantage offers little room for another setback.
Reddick, meanwhile, hopes Sunday’s victory can provide momentum for the remaining races as he pursues his first Cup Series championship.
“I think, week to week, (I’ll) primarily still just focus on trying to win races,” he said. “But if we can have a calm day and get stage points and finish with the car in one piece, I think we’ll be in a good spot at Talladega. Then it’ll fall to Martinsville.”
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