The white flag was waved to Tyler Reddick as a wild last-lap wreck changed the complexion of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The 28-year-old from California driving for 23XI Racing was in the right place at the right time when the leaders crashed in front of him, and he was able to cross the finish line in the leading position, winning his first race of the season by 0.208 seconds to get his sixth career Cup win.
Final-Lap Wreck Changes the Race
In the final corner of the race, Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski, and Noah Gragson were fighting for the lead, which made the finish exciting. Leading, McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, attempted to slide in front and block Keselowski’s charge, but the move went wrong as it sent McDowell’s №34 Ford into a spin, causing a multi-car wreck. Keselowski gathered his car, finishing in second; Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Alex Bowman followed in the top five.
McDowell, who qualified in the pole, ended the race 30th but still led the most laps with 36 in total.
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Michael Jordan’s Finally Celebrates with 23XI Racing
Reddick’s victory was very significant for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan, the basketball legend himself, who was present in the pit lane. The brilliant play of Reddick on the final lap was something like Jordan’s clutch performance during his NBA career. Jordan had never seen his team win and was beaming in victory lane, lifting Reddick’s young son, Beau.
“Denny [Hamlin] keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track, and today we proved him wrong,” Jordan said. “I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win we can have a good celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here.”
Early Control and Late Drama
The start of the race was rather controlled, with no unplanned caution flags during the first two stages. Having started from the pole position, McDowell ran a strategic race, with fellow Ford drivers taking the stage victories—Austin Cindric in Stage 1 and Joey Logano in Stage 2. Although all the hopes were aimed at Ford’s first win of the season, the dramatic last laps of the race changed the leading positions. The late-race restart determined the finish, with McDowell leading the bottom line and Reddick controlling the high line.
The final laps of the race were exciting, and several lead changes happened, among them between McDowell and Reddick, who took over the lead from each other several times. The final spectacular wreck took out several drivers, among them some of the favorites like Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain. Fortunately, all the drivers involved in the accident were confirmed to be okay.
“Was that crazy, guys?” he shouted during his post-race interview with Fox Sports. “That was chaos. That’s Talladega for you.”
His win made him the seventh 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season race winner.
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Looking Ahead to the Würth 400 at Dover
Reddick’s brilliant win at Talladega last Sunday will be one of the season’s highlights, with next Sunday’s Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway coming up. After finishing 11th at Talladega, Truex Jr., who is the defending race winner at Dover, will now try to bounce back.
Kyle Larson finished 20th, yet he remains at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, 16 points ahead of Truex.