Tyler Reddick led the second NASCAR Playoff race at Kansas Speedway only once, but it was when it counted the most.
The Hollywood Casino 400 Sunday (9/10) had more Playoff drivers fall victim to misfortune and mistakes as was the case in the first Playoff race the week before. Martin Truex Jr. had a tire get punctured by something. That resulted in him wrecking out of the race on lap five. The end result was Truex leaving Kansas seven points below the cut line. Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and other Playoff drivers also had issues of some kind during the race.
Kyle Larson looked to be the car to beat most of the race. He was the winner of Stage One and led a race high 99 laps. However, a late race slip-up would take him out of contention for the win.
Denny Hamlin was another car that looked like he could win the race among the ten drivers that exchanged the lead 19 times. However, the ninth and final caution of the race would send it into a green-white-checkered NASCAR overtime finish.
When the race re-started Daniel Suarez and Eric Jones were in the front row followed by Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in row two. Tyler Reddick was on the inside of row three for the re-start. Joey Logano and Eric Jones raced out to the front battling side-by-side when the green flag waived. Tyler Reddick was able to race forward to third place.
Tyler was able to get momentum going down the backstretch and carry that through turns three and four to take the lead at the stripe heading into the last lap. He was able to defend and hold that lead on the final lap to get his first win in the Cup Series at Kansas Speedway. It is his second win of the 2023 season and fifth career win NASCAR’s top division.
Denny Hamlin was able to capture a second-place finish. Erik Jones claimed third with Kyle Larson rebounding to fourth. Joey Logano rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway here.
Kyle Larson remains at the top of the NASCAR Playoff standings after his win at Darlington last week. Tyler Reddick joins him with an automatic advance to the next round with his win this week. The remaining 14 post-season contenders will have to earn their spot in the Round of 12 this coming week. See the NASCAR Playoff standings here.
The NASCAR Playoff drivers wanting to advance will have to battle it out on the short track of Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night, September 16th in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
By: Buck Stevens
