Reddick wins at Homestead and gives Jordan a shot at the NASCAR title

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Michael Jordan won a championship in Phoenix in 1993. Tyler Reddick made sure his car owner has a chance to win another title there this year.

Reddick went up and passed Ryan Blaney in the final corner to win at Homestead-Miami on Sunday and secure a spot in the winner-take-all NASCAR finale in Arizona in two weeks. Reddick led 98 of the 267 laps, the last of which was the most important.

“The little boy worked his ass off,” said Jordan, whose 1992-93 title — the third of six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls — came against the Suns in Phoenix. “I'm proud of him. … He just let go and just went for it. I am happy. I am happy. We needed it.”

Reddick loves the Homestead track and his favorite part of the place is Turns 3 and 4 – the last two corners. Maybe he likes them even more now, because that was the section of the route that gave him a chance at the title in a thrilling finish.

“I took a risk and it paid off,” Reddick said. “I don’t know what else to really say. … When the time is right, you can do some pretty crazy things over there.”

Reddick's change at the end was the 33rd lead change of the day, a Homestead record. Blaney finished second and Denny Hamlin – a partner in Reddick's car – finished third. Playoff drivers took the top six spots, with Christopher Bell fourth, Chase Elliott fifth and William Byron sixth.

Reddick – the regular-season champion and the driver who started from the pole on Sunday, a week after being upended in Las Vegas – and Joey Logano are now locked in two of the four spots in NASCAR's Final Four in Phoenix .

“He’s got a ton of talent,” 23XI Racing performance director Dave Rogers said of Reddick. “He is determined to win. He puts in the work necessary.”

Reddick was third behind Blaney and Hamlin before the final lap. He went low and circled Hamlin, and the three cars formed a straight line along the wall before Reddick stayed high and raced past Blaney.

“We're going to do whatever it takes to win this race,” Reddick said just before Jordan wrapped his arms around him and not long before teammate Bubba Wallace – fists high in the air like a fighter celebrating a title – appeared over, to also express his congratulations. “We’re fighting for a championship.”

Reddick became Homestead's ninth different winner in the last nine years, joining Jimmie Johnson in 2016, Martin Truex Jr. in 2017, Logano in 2018, Kyle Busch in 2019, Hamlin in 2020, Byron in 2021, Kyle Larson in 2022 and Bell last year.

Logano was the only one of the eight playoff drivers to come to Homestead and secure a spot in the season finale. He spent much of the day in the middle of the pack.

The other seven playoff drivers battled at the front for most of the 267 laps. Hamlin led with two laps to go, Larson with one lap to go and Reddick at the end.

“I had a great chance to win, but the last lap wasn't great,” said Blaney, who also finished second at Homestead last year.

Bell and Byron have the wherewithal to secure the final two spots in the Final Four, but any of the six drivers who have not yet secured a spot can do so with an easy win next week in Martinsville.

And championship week now has another twist. A hearing in the lawsuit involving Jordan against NASCAR over revenue sharing is scheduled for Nov. 4, six days before Reddick will try to secure him a title in the desert.

Drama in round 1

The first incident occurred about 25 seconds into the race when Justin Haley steered into the front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and was ejected.

No harm, no foul. Although virtually the entire field was crowded together at this point because the green flag was about to drop, no one was able to do any real damage.

Haley spun again on lap 186, resulting in another caution.

See you soon

Since Homestead-Miami first joined the NASCAR circuit in 1999, it has almost always hosted a fall race – and often the season finale. The only exceptions were 2020 (June) and 2021 (February). But NASCAR will be back March 23 next year and Homestead won't be a playoff track for at least a season.

Next

NASCAR heads to Martinsville next Sunday for the penultimate race of the season, which will decide the remaining spots in the Final Four in Phoenix. Blaney won the fall race at Martinsville last season, and Byron won when NASCAR made its first of two 2024 visits there in April.