Tyler Reddick overcome a questionable caution and getting passed for the lead on the first overtime, all to emerge victorious in second overtime in the rain delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
The dubious yellow flew for Martin Truex lightly hitting the wall, with Reddick coasting to what looked like a decisive victory, leaving his Billy Scott led team furious at the decision-making process from race control.
Byron took the lead from Reddick on the ensuing restart, but another caution for a Ross Chastain spin, stacked them right back up. Reddick got a solid push from Ty Gibbs behind him and Byron did not from Keselowski and that decided the race.
It’s the second win of the season for Reddick, who had been one of the streakiest drivers of the summer but had been unable to break through again until now.
“Well I was pretty pissed: The caution came out with five or six to go, and then William did a really good job of staying with me on the bottom with Brad closing in when he did,” Reddick said. “I had to be more focused on him than side drafting William. He got control of it there.
“I’m really thankful for Ty Gibbs. Great teammate. The Toyota Racing family took care of each other today, that’s for sure.”
Byron had taken the lead on the previous restart from the non-preferred bottom line but chose the momentum afforded by the top and it just didn’t work out.
“I’ll relive that restart, what lane to choose overnight, for sure,” Byron said. “It seems like always as the leader you want to take the top. I’ve gotten beat twice here by the bottom. I had the lead on the bottom barely over him, but he had a better car than us. He was a little bit faster.
“Second sucks. Really proud of the effort. I feel like we’ve been trying to put weeks together like this. This is a really good step. Everyone did a great job on the team. Strategy was awesome. Car was awesome all day.”
Notables included Kyle Busch finishing fourth, Keselowski fifth, Zane Smith seventh, Daniel Suarez eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth, and Carson Hocevar completing the top-10.
The race, which began on Sunday and resumed on Morning, featured nine cautions, including a wild blow over crash by Corey LaJoie. He was checked and released from the infield care center but the nature of the second airborne crash in as many days across both NASCAR tours left the industry puzzled.
Chastain was in position to make ground on the cutline but his spin left him a lap down and unable to capitalize on Bubba Wallace getting caught up in a crash where Kyle Larson spun in front of the middle of the field.
Chastain is just one point over Wallace for the final provisional playoff spot. Gibbs gained significant ground over the cutline and is 39 above it. Chris Buescher overcame his own involvement in the Larson, Busch crash to finish sixth and emerge 16 points above the cutline.
In winning the race, Reddick took the points lead, 10 ahead of Chase Elliott and 28 ahead of Hamlin. Larson is now fourth and 32 points back. The regular season championship matters because it pays 15 additional playoff points. Second place gets 10 playoff points. Third gets eight and so forth through the top-10 with 10th getting one playoff points.
Results
- Tyler Reddick
- William Byron
- Ty Gibbs
- Kyle Busch
- Brad Keselowski
- Chris Buescher
- Zane Smith
- Daniel Suarez
- Denny Hamlin
- Carson Hocevar
- Ryan Preece
- Noah Gragson
- Ricky Stenhouse
- Harrison Burton
- Chase Elliott
- Erik Jones
- Austin Dillon
- Ryan Blaney
- Michael McDowell
- Justin Haley
- Cody Ware
- Josh Berry
- Daniel Hemric
- Martin Truex
- Ross Chastain
- Bubba Wallace
- Alex Bowman
- Austin Cindric
- John Hunter Nemechek
- AJ Allmendinger
- Chase Briscoe
- Corey LaJoie
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Larson
- Christopher Bell
- Todd Gilliland