What a difference a race win can make. Tyler Reddick proved this to be true on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway as he launched himself back into championship contention.
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The 23XI Racing driver entered Phoenix Raceway 114 points behind championship leader Kyle Larson. He left only 56 points behind, partially due to the bonus points from winning his sixth race of the season and partially due to the issues that affected other drivers.
Larson finished 34th after a dreadful day that ended in a DNF. Denny Hamlin finished 28th after a flat tire and a speeding penalty buried him one lap down.
MORE: Phoenix Cup Series Results
Reddick is still seventh in the standings, but he is within reach of the championship lead heading to Talladega Superspeedway where chaos is the only guarantee.
Don't count out @TylerReddick just yet. 💨 pic.twitter.com/gtAVsVCkYq
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 18, 2026
The California native and the No. 45 team have struggled throughout the Chase while falling from the second seed to the seventh. They posted top-three finishes at Darlington Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but scored 26 or fewer points in three consecutive races.
The race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway also featured Reddick's team having to change the alternator, which took away opportunities to score more stage points.
Sunday's race at Phoenix marked a major turnaround. Reddick scored six stage points early while racing inside of the top 10. He then continued moving through the pack before taking second place with just over 30 laps remaining.
A caution for Kyle Larson hitting the wall provided the opportunity that Reddick needed. He followed teammate Bubba Wallace down pit road, but he left first after crew chief Billy Scott opted for a two-tire pit stop.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Todd Gilliland all followed the same strategy while Wallace's team went with four tires.
But while he left pit road first, he did not have the lead. Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, and Ty Gibbs had all stayed out on older tires. This meant that Reddick had to pass them all with approximately 20 laps remaining.
What a move by @TylerReddick on the restart! 👀 pic.twitter.com/4aOhVUt6rH
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 18, 2026
He did exactly what he needed. He restarted on the second row and initially fell to fifth. However, he went in the middle of a four-wide pack and took second place. He then chased down Briscoe and took the lead for good with 18 laps remaining in the race.
Once he had clean air, he didn't look back. He went on to win his first race since Kansas on April 19. Blaney, Elliott, Bell, and Corey Heim all finished in the top five.
"That's way too long," Reddick said after the race. "Man, the way we worked there, I mean, thinking of Phoenix, we wanted to be a lot better when we came back here. I think we checked that box.
"For us, this group never lost motivation, never lost the drive to keep searching and keep trying to find ways to make ourselves better, just be an all-around better team.
"I don't know, something about today. It didn't really start right. Just something about today, I had a really good feeling. Practice was amazing. Yeah, we're back to Victory Lane."
