Reddick wins in overtime

Tyler Reddick passed Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime Sunday at Kansas Speedway and won his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race in nine starts this season. (nascar.com) The win came in the AdventHealth 400 on April 19 after Cody Ware spun on Lap 266, one lap before the scheduled end of the 267-lap race, and forced a late caution. All 16 cars on the lead lap pitted before the overtime restart. (nascar.com) Denny Hamlin led with two laps left in regulation, beat Reddick off pit road, and chose the inside lane for the restart. Larson jumped past Hamlin to the lead, but Reddick used the outside lane and then cleared Larson through the final two corners to win by 0.118 seconds. (nascar.com) Kansas used NASCAR’s overtime format, which extends the race beyond its scheduled distance when a late caution comes out before the leader takes the white flag. That rule turned a Hamlin-controlled finish into a two-lap sprint with fresh tires and a bunched field. (nascar.com) The result widened Reddick’s lead in the regular-season standings to 105 points over Hamlin after nine of 26 races. It also made Reddick the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to win five of the first nine races in NASCAR’s top series. (jayski.com, nascar.com) Reddick started from the pole, led early, scraped the outside wall late, and said his Toyota briefly sputtered before the caution changed the race. In overtime he also made contact with Christopher Bell, forcing Bell into the outside wall before recovering for the win. (nascar.com) Larson finished second, Chase Briscoe third, Hamlin fourth, and Bubba Wallace fifth as 23XI Racing placed two cars in the top five. Jayski listed Reddick’s win as his second at Kansas and the 13th of his Cup career. (jayski.com) Hamlin said after the race that his frustration was “obviously” not winning and pointed to Ware’s spin while six laps down. Larson said his car’s balance changed after the late stop for two tires, and Michael Jordan, 23XI’s co-owner with Hamlin, said of Reddick: “This kid is on fire.” (espn.com, nascar.com) Reddick left Kansas with another win, a bigger points cushion, and a season pace NASCAR has not seen through nine races since Earnhardt’s 1987 start. The Cup Series now moves on with Reddick holding both the trophy from Sunday and the clearest edge in the standings. (nascar.com, jayski.com)