Tyler Reddick’s Gamble on Old Tires at Homestead Pays Off

Tyler Reddick started on pole at the Straight Talk Wireless 400, but it took strategy, patience and luck for him to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Just when you think you have a track like this figured out, it always seems to present something new that catches you off guard and you have to adapt,” Reddick said in the press conference following the race. “That’s the name of the game for us all day long. We kind of just kept having to adjust to what our car would give us.

“Ultimately at the end we kind of went on a limb with our strategy. Cannot believe it, but it paid off. It was an incredible thing. I cannot believe we won the race on older tires in a place like Homestead. Shouldn’t happen, but we did it. That’s the kind of team that we have. We’ve been put in some very tough situations. We found ways to overcome it. We did that again today.”

Reddick’s victory launched him from below the cutoff line in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to an automatic spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. Last week Reddick rolled his No. 45 Toyota Camry at Las Vegas Motor Speedway left him with a busted-up racecar, a DNF and 30 points below the cut line in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 heading into Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Despite these self-inflicted setbacks, Riddick drove to victory lane in South Beach on Sunday and an automatic spot in the Championship 4.

“Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off and I’m proud of him,” exclaimed 23/XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan. “He didn’t let go, he just went for it and we needed it. We needed it.”

Pit strategy and staying out during a late caution put Reddick in a position to win at Homestead-Miami. Reddick and his squad would have tires that were two laps older than the rest of the field and seven laps to prove that their strategy would pay off.

“I didn’t know how that was going to play out. I was worried that caution wasn’t going to come. We pit, lose a lap. Oh, damn. We get back on the lead lap. I was not expecting it, right? Nick (spotter) says ‘caution’. Great, we’re at the back, whatever else. It was like, Yeah, we’re going to stay out. I was like, Oh, s***, we’re going to stay out? We’re going to figure this out (smiling).”

The victory was Reddick’s third this season and the eighth of his Cup Series career. The Cup Series regular season champion has now secured his spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway and can win his first career NASCAR Cup Series title.