Tyler Reddick turns into a Daytona 500 winner within the NASCAR Cup Collection on Sunday at Daytona Worldwide Speedway for 23XI Racing.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tyler Reddick waited for the final potential second to make his transfer—and it paid off with victory in Sunday’s 68th working of the DAYTONA 500.
Tyler Reddick, a Daytona 500 Winner
Within the last 500 yards of the Nice American Race, Reddick received a welcome push from teammate Riley Herbst, muscled his well beyond Chase Elliott, and powered his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota towards the end line.
Because the observe exploded in chaos behind him, when Herbst tried an ill-fated late block on Brad Keselowski and a knot of automobiles slid sideways throughout the end line, Reddick already was celebrating a 0.308-second victory over 2023 DAYTONA 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Reddick was the twenty fifth totally different chief—a report for the race—and the one lap he led was the final one.
After a winless 2025, Reddick expressed each satisfaction and reduction at doing what 23XI co-owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan employed him to do.
“Final 12 months was actually laborious for all of us, laborious for me,” Reddick mentioned. “If you’re a Cup driver, and also you get to this stage and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s anticipated you win each single 12 months.
“For us to go on that drought, it made us look laborious within the mirror, and I’m actually pleased with everybody on our Chumba On line casino Toyota Camry. Labored actually laborious within the offseason, and there have been many factors on this race the place we weren’t making selections we wished to, however we simply reset, and each alternative we received to reset, we went again at it.
“Simply speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, actually. The perfect half is my son requested earlier than this race, ‘Are you lastly going to win this race?’ One thing about in the present day simply felt proper.”
Dramatic Ultimate Laps
The ultimate two laps produced extra plot twists than a dime novel. Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar led on the white flag however spun within the first flip and fell out of the lead pack, taking Erik Jones and Michael McDowell with him. Elliott took management and appeared able to win his first Crown Jewel race earlier than Reddick gained momentum off Herbst’s bumper.
Moments later, Herbst’s tried block stopped Keselowski’s enormous run close to the surface wall and sealed the win for Reddick.
“I’m not likely positive what occurred with the primary (Hocevar) wreck,” Elliott mentioned. “However we ended up type of getting gifted the lead, and the 38 (Zane Smith) and I had received out by ourselves down the again. He had given me an excellent shove off into (flip) 3, after which it was type of simply he and I, and at that time, I simply felt momentum shift, like there was going to be one other run coming behind us there sooner or later.
“Sadly, that was correct, after which at that time limit, you’re simply on protection. Man, that’s a extremely, actually powerful place to be, honestly. Clearly, wanting again, you possibly can run it by way of your thoughts a thousand occasions. Do you do one thing totally different? I really feel like if I had thrown a double block on the 45 (Reddick), most likely would have simply crashed us at that time limit.”
Behind Stenhouse, 2015 DAYTONA 500 winner Joey Logano slid throughout the end line in third place, adopted by Elliott and Keselowski.
“Yeah, lots of chaos,” mentioned Keselowski, who raced whereas nonetheless recovering from a damaged proper femur. “Final restart, I gave William Byron an incredible push, and simply wasn’t sufficient to maneuver our lane. I used to be giving him all I had, after which proper right here on the finish, I had this enormous run, and the 35 (Herbst) wrecked us. Actually dissatisfied.
“Tore up the 9 (Elliott), tore up the 22 (Joey Logano), a bunch of automobiles that didn’t need to be wrecked, in order that was an enormous bummer and actually silly. Nonetheless an honest day for us to come back residence with a high 5 and to be aggressive and have a shot to win.”
As wild because the end was, the largest melee of the afternoon got here a lot earlier.
The Daytona ‘Massive One’
With seven laps left within the second stage, contact between the No. 40 Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier and the No.11 Toyota of three-time DAYTONA 500 winner Denny Hamlin ignited a 20-car wreck within the tri-oval.
Allgaier was main the highest line however left a slender lane open to his proper. As Hamlin tried to fill the outlet, Allgaier’s automobile twitched towards the wall, turned throughout the nostril of Hamlin’s Camry, and lit the fuse of chaos behind him.
“I received to the surface lane there, received to the entrance—received the surface lane,” Allgaier mentioned. “And I actually thought I had blocked sufficient of that high lane that the highest line was simply going to fall in behind.
“And as quickly as Denny went to that quarter-panel, it simply sucked me in there. It’s 100% my fault. That’s the irritating half. I ought to have moved it up increased. However there are moments the place you get a bit of bit complacent. You assume you probably did all the pieces proper, however you didn’t test all of the bins. That’s what occurred there.”
Reward for Riley Herbst from the 23XI Boss
Despite the fact that Herbst was listed in that incident, his automobile was not severely broken and survived to turn out to be a key part within the 23XI victory, as Jordan acknowledged after the race.
“I assumed Riley did an unbelievable job pushing on the finish,” Jordan mentioned. “That exhibits you what teamwork can actually, actually do. He doesn’t get sufficient credit score. He received’t get sufficient credit score. However we really feel the love. We perceive precisely what he did.
“We hung in there all day. Nice technique by the group, and we gave ourselves an opportunity on the finish. Look, I’m ecstatic. I don’t even know what to say. It seems like I received a championship, however till I get my ring, I received’t even know.”
The Remainder of the Greatest and Race Stats
Smith, Chris Buescher, Herbst, Josh Berry, and Bubba Wallace completed sixth by way of tenth, respectively. Byron, making an attempt for a 3rd straight DAYTONA 500 win, got here residence twelfth, and pole winner Kyle Busch was fifteenth.
The lead modified palms among the many report 25 totally different drivers 665 occasions. Smith took the primary stage win—the primary of his profession—and Wallace received the second beneath warning for the 20-car accident.
Subsequent Up
The subsequent race for the NASCAR Cup Collection is at EchoPark Speedway on Sunday, February twenty second at 3 pm ET. The Autotrader 400 begins at 3 pm ET with protection on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, and driver views on HBO MAX. Christopher Bell is the defending winner.
