NASCAR Cup Kansas: Reddick wins after three-wide pass in overtime

After powering past Brad Keselowski with 80 laps to go, Denny Hamlin appeared set to sweep victories in both Kansas races this season until Chris Buescher hit the wall with seven laps remaining and sent the race into a two-lap overtime.

That set up several different pit strategies as Daniel Suarez stayed out and inherited the lead and three drivers took on only two tyres, that grouping headed by Erik Jones. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Toyota and Reddick, who had run second to Hamlin prior to the caution, both elected to pit for four new tyres.

Reddick got a big run on the restart and, with Jones on the outside and Joey Logano in the middle, Reddick dived to the inside exiting Turn 4 to grab the lead for the first time in the race.

Reddick then held off his 23XI Racing team owner, Hamlin, by 0.327 seconds to claim the victory which locks him into the second next round of the playoffs regardless of his finish in next week’s race at Bristol.

"Just an outstanding job by this whole 23XI team," said Reddick, whose victory was his second of 2023. "We had really good pace, but just couldn’t get ahead of Denny there.

"But chaos ensued, people stayed out, some took two tyres, and the bottom lane opened up. It was pretty crazy."

Hamlin felt he was held up at the restart by Stage 1 winner Kyle Larson "kind of sleeping on the restart, looking in the rear view instead of looking in the front" and was left to rue a caution that "certainly flipped the results".

"But that’s part of racing, right; our sport is different than others," he said. "It is a sport of chance at times, and luck does play a factor, and we were unlucky to get that caution.

Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Yahoo! Toyota Camry (Photo by: Rachel Schuoler / NKP / Motorsport Images)

"We knew that there was going to be a handful of cars that was going to do the opposite of what we did. I think the right call was four tyres."

Jones ended up third, Larson was fourth and Logano rounded out the top five. Completing the top-10 were Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Stage 2 winner Keselowski and Alex Bowman.

Hendrick Chevrolet team-mates Elliott and Larson had made contact on pitroad before the final restart as 2021 Cup champion Larson sought to avoid a heavier hit with Keselowski.

"I understand why he's mad or was mad in the moment," Larson said. "I hope when he sees the replay, he understands that I didn't have any space or not much."

With one race remaining in the first round of the playoffs, the four drivers lowest in points without a win and in danger of being eliminated from further title contention are regular series champion Martin Truex Jr., Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell.

Truex hit the Turn 3 wall within the first five laps after he suffered a puncture in his right-rear tyre, with the JGR Toyota sustaining sufficient damage to retire from the race.

"It blew in the worst place possible," said a dismayed Truex, who now needs a big result at Bristol - a track where he hasn't had a top five finish since March 2012.

"I hate it for my guys. We had an awesome (car). We were going to have a great day, just not sure what we need to do to get some luck here."

NASCAR Cup Kansas Race Results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45		Toyota	268	3:12'37.939		10	51
2	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	268	+0.327	0.327	11	48
3	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43		Chevrolet	268	+0.516	0.189	11	39
4	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	268	+0.642	0.126	11	43
5	J. Logano Team Penske	22		Ford	268	+0.823	0.181	11	35
6	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	268	+1.300	0.477	10	41
7	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	268	+1.330	0.030	11	30
8	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	268	+1.570	0.240	10	38
9	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6		Ford	268	+1.656	0.086	11	41
10	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	268	+1.661	0.005	10	27
11	K. Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing	4		Ford	268	+1.886	0.225	11	34
12	R. Blaney Team Penske	12		Ford	268	+1.939	0.053	10	35
13	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	268	+2.038	0.099	10	31
14	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	268	+2.043	0.005	10	23
15	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	268	+2.253	0.210	12	22
16	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	268	+2.907	0.654	11	21
17	A. Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing	10		Ford	268	+3.015	0.108	10	20
18	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41		Ford	268	+3.139	0.124	11	19
19	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14		Ford	268	+3.258	0.119	13	18
20	C. Hocevar Legacy Motor Club	42		Chevrolet	268	+3.953	0.695	10
21	J. Haley Kaulig Racing	31		Chevrolet	268	+4.446	0.493	10	16
22	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	268	+4.502	0.056	10	15
23	R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing	47		Chevrolet	268	+5.903	1.401	12	14
24	C. Custer Rick Ware Racing	51		Ford	268	+6.426	0.523	9
25	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	267	+1 Lap	1 Lap	11	12
26	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	267	+1 Lap	1.141	11	11
27	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17		Ford	267	+1 Lap	0.860	11	12
28	T. Dillon Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	267	+1 Lap	4.752	11	9
29	S. Creed Live Fast Motorsports	78		Chevrolet	266	+2 Laps	1 Lap	11
30	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	266	+2 Laps	0.108	12	7
31	A. Cindric Team Penske	2		Ford	266	+2 Laps	3.730	11	6
32	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23		Toyota	264	+4 Laps	2 Laps	11	14
33	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	259	+9 Laps	5 Laps	13	4
34	J. Yeley Rick Ware Racing	15		Ford	212	+56 Laps	47 Laps	10		DVP
35	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	175	+93 Laps	37 Laps	11	2	DVP
36	M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	3	+265 Laps	172 Laps	3	1	Accident
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