Tyler Reddick won a thrilling two-lap dash Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway in the Hollywood Casino 400, NASCAR’s second playoff race, in Kansas City, Kansas.
After playoff driver Chris Buescher blew a tire with seven laps left, Reddick restarted sixth in the final run and made a strong charge off Turn 4, passing Erik Jones and Joey Logano, who had each taken two tires, as they raced side by side.
The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota driver for NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and minority owner Denny Hamlin roared away to his fifth career win and advanced to the upcoming Round of 12 playoff segment.
Hamlin appeared headed for his track-record fifth Kansas win before Buescher caused the ninth caution.
Jones, Kyle Larson and Logano completed the top five.
In the second Cup race of the Round of 16 playoffs, JGR’s Christopher Bell backed up his top qualifying run last week at Darlington Raceway with the pole speed with seven more of the playoff contenders qualifying in the top 10.
As it did last season in the postseason, the 1.5-mile speedway took a bite out of a playoff competitor early — Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 3.
The No. 19 JGR Racing lost control of his Toyota after a right rear tire went down. He subsequently smacked the Turn 3 wall, bowed out the right front wheel and finished last.
Last week’s victor at Darlington, Larson passed Bell and held the point after the first round of pit stops, then won Stage 1 by beating Bubba Wallace. Playoff driver William Byron spun on Lap 63 but was unscathed.
Wallace brought out the fourth caution when he had a right rear tire explode and scrubbed the wall. Last year’s race winner, Wallace lost four laps and finished 32nd.
Late in Stage 2, Keselowski passed leader Chase Elliott and beat second-place Hamlin for the segment’s bonus points.
–Field Level Media