Tyler Reddick fights through adversity to win Darlington Cup race

Tyler Reddick may have started first and finished first, but there was a lot happening between it all. He struggled with electrical issues early and needed to shut off the fans, causing the temperature to rapidly rise in the car. He had to manually drain hot water from his broken cool suit, complained about possible brake problems, the team had to change a battery mid-race, and he was even involved in a late-race wreck.

And despite all that, Reddick still won the race. He passed Brad Keselowski for the lead with 28 laps to go and never looked back, further cementing his massive points lead in the championship standings.

“I know never to give up, and I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win at Darlington, the Lady in Black would test us like that,” said Reddick. “We’ve been so close so many times. I mean, Lap 1, we had the charging problem where the battery wasn’t charging at all. So all day, just not running fans, sweating my tail off inside the race car, and we knew it was going to be physical. Really worn out, but I guess I don’t need as much of that cooling stuff as I normally have.”

He then added: “Ever since I made my first laps here, there’s just something about this race track that’s so special, so challenging. It’s been really fun for my evolution as a driver over the years.”

Keselowski finished second, Ryan Blaney third, Carson Hocevar fourth, and Austin Cindric fifth. Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Chris Buescher, and Erik Jones filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Stage 1

Reddick led the race from pole, but quickly reported some sort of electrical issue was plaguing the #45 car. The first run went green as teams felt out the new rules package and tire compound, with Reddick choosing to run a bit longer than those around him.

When he did pit, it was a very slow stop on the right-side, dropping him to seventh in the running order.

Keselowski was now in command of the race, but Reddick made up over ten seconds and nearly caught him at the end of Stage 1. At the line, it was Keselowski, Reddick, Blaney, Wallace, Larson, Buescher, Elliott, Cindric, Suarez, and Byron.

McDowell, who was running 21st, was the free pass car. During the first stage, Timmy Hill also fell out of the race with an issue.

Stage 2

Reddick gave up all of his track position, entering a closed pit to give the team ample opportunity to work on the car. They checked the alternator belt, and eventually changed out the battery.

His 23XI teammate had a bad stop, forced to stop and backup due to a potential loose wheel. Blaney had to stop in his teammate’s pit stall, with Cindric’s crew tightening one of his wheels.

On the restart, Larson was leading the way, while Jones had a close call with Chastain. Not long after, Jones had a far worse encounter with Hamlin, getting bumped from behind after a slow entry into Turn 3. Jones spun, Hamlin hit the wall, and Wallace had nowhere to go. Dropped into the middle of the pack after the pit road hiccup, he hit Hamlin and the outside wall, knocking the toe out, and his #23 Toyota was never the same.

A lot of cars took the opportunity to get back on the lead lap via wavearounds during this yellow. Keselowski took the lead, and at one point, there were RFK cars running 1-2-3.

Hamlin faded at the very end of the stage after running inside the top five, complaining about something wrong with the #11 car. The team went to work on it during the stage break that followed.

Keselowski barely held off Buescher to win Stage 2, followed by Larson, Briscoe, Reddick, Preece, Byron, Cindric, Gibbs, and Suarez. Running 24th, Z. Smith was the recipient of the free pass.

Stage 3

On the restart, Briscoe nearly turned Keselowski as he gave him an aggressive push, passing both RFK cars and taking the lead.

Moments alter, Riley Herbst spun into the wall after contact from Connor Zilisch, forcing a yellow and splitting the strategy. Six cars stayed out, led by Buescher and Gibbs, while Briscoe was the leader among those who pitted. Briscoe ended up stalling out behind Gibbs and Buescher, opening the door for Keselowski and Reddick to pass him.

Keselowski even made contact with Briscoe on his way by, before rapidly closing in on Buescher, who still led the race with 60 laps to go.

Larson and Bell began to the green-flag cycle with 54 laps to go, and at the same time, Keselowski passed Buescher for the lead. Moments later, Buescher decided to pull an undercut and pit, but Reddick in third had no idea. Contact was made and Buescher spun into the wall.

However, he was able to quickly gather it up, so the race remained green.

After things cycled through, Keselowski was about two seconds clear of Briscoe, but Reddick was flying on slightly fresher tires after running long, and was likely to catch them both.

Reddick passes Briscoe with 36 laps to go, and was just two seconds back of Keselowski. Eight laps later, he sliced under Keselowski through Turn 2 and drove away.

In the final laps, Larson fell off the pace with a broken toe link, and Briscoe suddenly faded after tangling with another car, but the race remained green as Reddick captured the checkered flag.

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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