DARLINGTON, S.C. — It’s almost impossible to keep a good man down — when you’re on the kind roll Tyler Reddick is enjoying, that is.
Overcoming a succession of issues inside his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, Reddick delivered a convincing victory in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, beating runner-up Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 5.847 seconds.
The win was Reddick’s fourth of the season in six NASCAR Cup Series events, following his record-setting sweep of the first three races of the year. That four-victory total puts Reddick in the company of two pillars of the sport.
Only twice before has a Cup Series driver won four of the first six races in a given season: Dale Earnhardt in 1987 and Bill Elliott in 1992.
Nor did circumstances make it easy on the 30-year-old driver from Corning, California. With a malfunctioning alternator from the outset, Reddick had to conserve power by eliminating unnecessary electrical drains.
That meant no cool suit to keep him refreshed on a warm day in the South Carolina Sandhills. It also meant a change to a more robust battery on pit road, a move that relegated the No. 45 Camry to the back of the field.
Trouble on the right-front tire on the team’s first green-flag pit stop compounded the issues, resulting in a 16.3-second pit stop that cost Reddick six positions in the running order.
An untimely final-stage collision with Chris Buescher, who made a late signal to come to pit road on Lap 242 of 293, also cost Reddick valuable time.
Ultimately, though, Reddick overcame all the obstacles thrown at the No. 45 team on Sunday. After pitting for the final time on Lap 246, Reddick charged forward, erasing a seven-second deficit to Keselowski, who led a race-high 142 laps.
On Lap 266, Reddick passed Keselowski for the lead and pulled away to the decisive victory.
“I’m pretty sure it’s frustrating for him because he had an unbelievable car,” said former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Cup driver Denny Hamlin. “You know, you never know what’s going to happen, especially at Darlington. I think that the key to him winning was just keeping his head.
“I think (crew chief) Billy (Scott) did a good job of trying to keep him calm. We knew we had a fast car. We knew on a 30-lap run we were real good, on a short-lap run we were real good. We just had to get the car right. And he kept his composure, and he did an unbelievable job.”
Reddick, who started from the pole and led 77 laps, thought a trial by fire was appropriate at the Track Too Tough to Tame.
“I know never to give up,” Reddick, who won for the 12th time in his career. “I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington that the Lady in Black would test us like that. 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.
“All day long, just not running fans. Sweat 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.”
Keselowski was running a paint scheme to honor the late Greg Biffle, a former RFK Racing driver who lost his life in a plane crash last December.
“We didn’t have the best car today,” Keselowski acknowledged. “Not compared to Tyler. Tyler drove a hell of a race, and he’s driving a rocket, and he’s making it count right now.
“I think we got the most out of the day we were getting to get, honestly, but we scored a lot of stage points, second place, first place loser, but that’s OK. We’re doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have.
“It’s really cool to have the great group of (RFK) cars running up front. I put a nice right-sided stripe on the car. I think that would make Greg proud. If you know Greg, you’ll understand that one.”
Ryan Blaney finished third, overcoming a penalty for pitting in a teammate’s stall to tighten a loose wheel.
Carson Hocevar showed blazing speed in the final stage in finishing fourth after starting from the rear of the field because of an unapproved adjustment to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet—the repair of an upper control arm.
Austin Cindric ran fifth, followed by Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Buescher and Erik Jones.
The Results
- (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 293.
- (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 293.
- (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 293.
- (16) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 293.
- (12) Austin Cindric, Ford, 293.
- (28) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 293.
- (11) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 293.
- (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, 293.
- (6) Chris Buescher, Ford, 293.
- (24) Erik Jones, Toyota, 293.
- (9) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 293.
- (23) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 293.
- (17) Ryan Preece, Ford, 293.
- (33) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 293.
- (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 293.
- (25) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 293.
- (26) Josh Berry, Ford, 293.
- (32) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 293.
- (22) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 292.
- (20) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 292.
- (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 292.
- (19) Zane Smith, Ford, 292.
- (31) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 292.
- (15) Justin Allgaier(i), Chevrolet, 292.
- (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 292.
- (30) Noah Gragson, Ford, 291.
- (21) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 291.
- (35) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 291.
- (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 291.
- (27) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 291.
- (36) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 291.
- (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 291.
- (29) Joey Logano, Ford, 290.
- (2) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 288.
- (14) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 288.
- (34) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 285.
- (37) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, Handling, 52.