Demanding Darlington Raceway put NASCAR’s hottest driving sensation to the test Sunday afternoon, and Tyler Reddick aced it.
Reddick’s fast No. 45 Toyota chased down and blazed by Brad Keselowski’s Ford in the Goodyear 400’s final 50 laps, sending the 23XI Racing driver to his fourth victory of the season Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.
The Corning, Calif., native took the checkers in the sixth race of the season by pitting with 48 laps to go and using the fresher rubber to get by Keselowski’s No. 6 car in Turn 2 on Lap 266 of the 293-lap race and disappear for his 12th career win.
The Cup Series points leader led 77 laps and beat Keselowski, who paced the field for a race-high 142 laps, by 5.847 seconds in the four-caution event.
Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five finishers.
Reddick, 30, withstood a faulty battery and later a change to a new one. He also had a failure with his cool suit, leaving him stewing in hot water on the warmest day of the race weekend in the Palmetto State.
“I know never to give up,” said Reddick, who joined Bill Elliott (1992) and Dale Earnhardt (1987) as the only drivers to win four of six starts to open a season. “I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington that the ‘Lady in Black’ would test us like that.”
Team owner Michael Jordan praised the all-around effort by the 45 group in securing Toyota’s fifth win in six races in 2026 and their third straight victory at Darlington.
“I’m pretty sure it was frustrating for him because he had an unbelievable car,” the NBA legend said. “You never know what’s going to happen, especially at Darlington. I think the key to him winning was keeping his head. I think (crew chief) Billy (Scott) did a good job of trying to keep him calm.
“We knew we had a fast car. We knew on a 30-lap run we were real good. … He kept his composure and did an unbelievable job.”
After winning his 13th career pole Saturday, Reddick led the first 45 laps of the 90-lap Stage 1 at the legendary 1.366-mile track, but trouble on his Camry XSE during the first round of pit stops left him behind Keselowski, who short-pitted as lap times fell off, after service cycled around.
Pitting early worked well for Keselowski as the 2012 champion won the segment ahead of a hard-charging Reddick, whose fresher tires came to life. Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson finished the top five.
However, Reddick (battery change), Wallace (loose lug) and Blaney (lug) all had problems and had to restart deeper in the field.
The first incident for cause happened on Lap 111 when Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones got together, with the No. 43 of Jones spinning onto the apron at the west end of the track and Hamlin and Wallace each tagging the wall.
RFK Racing’s Fords took control with 160 circuits remaining as Keselowski assumed the point, followed by Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece. Larson and Hamlin rode fourth and fifth and stayed within five seconds of Keselowski.
For the second time, Keselowski claimed a stage, swapping the lead with teammate Buescher, who finished second. Larson, Chase Briscoe and Reddick followed the Fords.
With less than 55 laps to go, Reddick hit leader Buescher in Turn 3 as the No. 17 was setting up a pit approach and sent the Ford into the wall, but the race stayed green.
–Field Level Media
Comments