Tyler Reddick used an overtime finish in Kansas Speedway’s AdventHealth 400 to register an achievement that hasn’t been recorded since seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt did it in 1987—win five of the season’s first nine races.
“That’s a guy on the Mount Rushmore of NASCAR drivers. To be able to accomplish things that someone like him (Earnhardt) did is truly incredible,” said Reddick, who gave the checkered flag to team owner Michael Jordan who walked from the team’s pit to the track’s finish line to celebrate with the crew.
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Reddick’s 13th career Cup victory gave 23XI Racing its fourth win in the last nine races at the 1.5-mile Kansas track. The organization also had all four of its cars finish in the top 15 for the first time in the organization’s history. Bubba Wallace placed fifth, Riley Herbst took 14th, and Corey Heim finished 15th.
“23XI, all the guys drove well today,” Jordan said. “That says a lot about the program.”
Toyota drivers have now won seven of the season’s first nine races, the most for any OEM since 2007.
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Headed to the white flag in Sunday’s race, it appeared Reddick would have to settle for second behind the race’s top lap leader Denny Hamlin. With two laps remaining in the scheduled 267-lap race, Reddick told his crew his Toyota had run out of fuel, and he had to switch to pump two.
“When we started to run out of fuel, I didn’t know what was happening,” Jordan said.
Crew chief Billy Scott later said the car wasn’t out of gas, but there possibly was a fuel pump problem.
“We felt confident we had enough gas in there,” Scott said. “It’s some sort of mechanical problem that we’ll dive into this week.”
Toyota drivers have now won seven of the season’s first nine races, the most for any OEM since 2007.
Even though Reddick’s Toyota returned to speed after he flipped to the second pump, it was a spin by Cody Ware in turn four as leader Hamlin headed to the white flag with Reddick in tow that changed everything.
The race’s only caution for an accident turned the event into the third overtime race this season. All 17-lead lap cars pitted. Hamlin and Reddick were among the 10 cars that took only two tires. Chase Briscoe lined up 11th and was the first one with four fresh tires. When they chose their lanes for the restart, Hamlin took the inside and Reddick the outside.
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Tyler Reddick led Denny Hamlin (#11) and the rest of the field back to the green.
When the green flag waved, there was a mad scramble for the lead. Reddick clipped Christopher Bell, who smacked the wall. Reddick then dove to the inside of Kyle Larson in turn two while Briscoe charged through the field. It wasn’t until the final turn on the last lap that Reddick pulled ahead of Larson, defeating the Hendrick Motorsports driver by 0.118 second.
“Felt like I was in a good spot going into (turn) one,” Reddick said. “Christopher crept up. I knew he was going to get there. I kind of blew that one. Denny coming up into me.”
Larson, whose winless streak now stands at 33 races, said he had good execution on the restart, and once he took the lead, he thought he could “cruise” to the checkered flag.
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“But my balance on two tires was just super, super tight,” said Larson, who last visited a Cup victory lane at Kansas last spring. “I didn’t get through (turns) three and four fast enough, and then the No. 45 (Reddick) had such a big run on me from behind. I thought I could go to the top to get some load into my front tires, but it still didn’t turn there.”
Hamlin, who led six times for 131 laps in the 274-lap race, couldn’t hide his disappointment during an interview with Fox Sports. At one point, Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Hamlin, grabbed Hamlin around his neck and rubbed his cap as he walked by, but it was obvious that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn’t amused. Hamlin cited Ware, who was six laps down, wrecking before he could receive the white flag as the most frustrating part of the race’s closing laps.
“I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps.”
“I feel like the same move that the 5 (Larson) got me (on) a couple years ago when I was on the inside,” Hamlin said about the overtime finish. “I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps. Got into the wall. But it didn’t really affect the finishing position.”
With the victory, Reddick now possesses a 105-point lead in the driver standings. Hamlin moved into second due to Ryan Blaney’s disastrous day. Blaney emerged from the weekend in third in the standings. Rounding out the top five, respectively, are Ty Gibbs and Larson. Gibbs’ ninth-place finish was his seventh consecutive top 10.
Briscoe Breaks into Top 16
After a disappointing start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup season, Chase Briscoe has posted two consecutive top-five finishes and three top-10s in the last five races to break into the top 16 in the driver standings. The top 16 at the end of the regular season will contend for this year’s championship.
“Great call by James (Small, crew chief) there to be on offense,” Briscoe said, referencing the fact that they took four tires while 10 of their competitors in front of them took two.
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“We were not very good. We ran about 10th all day long. We were able to make something out of it in the end on that restart.”
Briscoe’s third-place finish was his best since the season’s second race at Atlanta when he took second.
“I would have loved to have another lap,” Briscoe continued. “I didn’t quite clear him (Denny Hamlin) and it messed both of our momentums up. It made it where I couldn’t make a move there in the end.
“I wouldn’t say we are proud of that effort. We kind of got lucky with that caution. We were going to run 12th with two to go, so glad we were able to turn it around. (We’ll) see if we can build on it.”
Dismal Day for Blaney
Ryan Blaney, who had posted six top-10 finishes, including a victory, in the first eight races, experienced his most dismal event since the season opening Daytona 500.
On lap 39 of the overtime event at Kansas Speedway, Blaney hit A.J. Allmendinger and spun the Kaulig Racing driver who was entering his pit as Blaney was leaving. On lap 83, Blaney’s crew took a “too many crew members in the pit service area” penalty so they could work on the car’s front splitter.
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Ryan Blaney.
“The No. 12 (Blaney) was, I think, three or four boxes behind us,” Allmendinger said. “I was watching him the whole time, and I was going to check up if he ever dropped the jack before I got to his box. But I passed his box maybe just right as they dropped the jack, and as I turned in, he turned out. I was hoping he’d checkup because I was already committed, but he didn’t and spun us out.”
Blaney went a lap down on lap 130 while running 21st and never regained the lost lap. He finished 24th, one lap down, which was his worst finish since he placed 27th in the season opening Daytona 500. Blaney’s second worst performance this season dropped him from second to third in the driver standings, 120 points behind standings leader and race winner Tyler Reddick.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.