Pit This Time may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our coverage. Learn more.
Tyler Reddick had the lead at Homestead-Miami Speedway on the final restart Sunday and lost it in the closing laps to Ryan Blaney. Afterward, the 23XI Racing driver said he could see the irony.
Two years ago at Homestead, Reddick was the one who made the late pass. This time Blaney returned the favor.
“No, not lost on me. No. I guess if anyone’s gonna do it to me, you know, never okay with it, but I can almost laugh, ’cause I know how much that one stung Ryan the other way around, so gave me a dose of my own medicine,” Reddick said.
https://x.com/IveBeenTimMoore/status/2119601918771110382
The 2024 Finish at Homestead
In the October 2024 race at Homestead, Blaney took the lead from Denny Hamlin with two laps to go and looked to have the win. On the last lap, Reddick carried the high line through Turns 3 and 4, got around Blaney and won, locking himself into that year’s Championship 4.
On Sunday, the roles flipped. Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford pulled alongside Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota and completed the pass in the closing laps. Blaney led seven laps all day, including the final two.
‘He Was Pretty Much Gone’
Reddick said he was counting on the white line through Turns 3 and 4 to save him, but once Blaney got alongside, there was not much left to do.
“I mean I was still hoping I was gonna hook the white line really good in three and four. Once I knew he was, like, door to door, like just past center, I’m, I was gonna try and get to his left rear and, and pull him back. But he was, he was pretty much gone,” he said.
A Different Track at the End
Reddick said the long green-flag runs left Homestead in a different state than drivers usually find late in a race.
“I mean, just we had a lot of green-flag runs today, so the track just was very different there, um, unlike what it normally is at the end of a race. I just think the track itself was a bit different, and it was throwing me, the 11, the 24, all of us kinda for a loop there, and Ryan and his guys hit it perfect.”
Asked what changed, he pointed to the top lane, which had worked earlier in the day.
“I don’t know, it just seemed like the top wasn’t as good. It just, some of the things that worked in earlier restarts, drivers were having trouble with, so it just seemed like it was a little bit different there on that last restart,” he said.
‘The Tale of Two Seasons’
Kyle Larson had already clinched the championship in Stage 1. Reddick finished the year fifth in the final Chase standings, 104 points back.
Asked about his first Chase and the mental grind of the 10-race stretch, Reddick said the format wasn’t what defined his year.
“I mean, it wasn’t really the Chase. It was just, you know, the second half of the year, missed opportunities and just a lot of bad days stacked together. So, yeah, the Chase really doesn’t come to mind. It’s just kinda the tale of two seasons for our group.”
Leave a Reply