Tyler Reddick earns spot in NASCAR final four for Michael Jordan

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Michael Jordan won a championship in Phoenix in 1993. Tyler Reddick said his car owner will have a chance to win another title there this year.

Reddick surged past Ryan Blaney in the final turn Sunday to win at Homestead-Miami and secure a spot in NASCAR’s winner-take-all finale in Arizona in two weeks. Reddick led 98 of the 267 laps, the last of which mattered the most.

“I’m proud of him,” said Jordan, whose 1993 title, the third of six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, came in Phoenix against the Suns. “He just let himself go and went for it. Glad to hear it. Glad to hear it. “We needed it.”

Blaney was second and Denny Hamlin, co-owner of Reddick’s car, was 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 on the pole on Sunday, and Joey Logano now occupy two of the four spots in NASCAR’s final four at Phoenix.

“(Reddick) is very talented,” said Dave Rogers, performance director for 23XI Racing. “He is determined to win. “He puts in the work.”

Reddick was third behind Blaney and Hamlin heading into the final lap. He came down and around Hamlin, and the three cars lined up in a straight line along the wall before Reddick stayed high to pass Blaney.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to win this race,” Reddick said, moments before Jordan put his arms around him and not long before teammate Bubba Wallace, with his fists raised like a wrestler celebrating a title, will also come to offer his congratulations. “We’re fighting for a championship.”

Reddick became the ninth different Homestead 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 for the last time. year.

Logano was the only one of the eight playoff drivers to arrive at Homestead with a berth in the season finale. He spent much of the day in the middle of the pack.

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

“I had a great chance to win and I didn’t have a very good last lap,” said Blaney, who also was second at Homestead last year.

Bell and Byron have the inside track to clinch the final two spots in the winner-take-all four-way finale, although any of the six drivers yet to clinch a spot can do so simply by winning at Martinsville next time. week.