While I’m not quite sure how, Tyler Reddick, once again, emerged victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, marking the fifth win for the driver through the ninth race of the 2026 season.
With the win, Reddick became just the fifth driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to score five wins through the opening nine races of a season.
Kyle Larson held the lead on the final lap, and as Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Denny Hamlin were all making contact behind him, it looked like Larson had the win sewn up. That wasn’t the case, however, as Reddick got an incredible run down the backstretch on the final lap, and he was able to work his way past Larson in Turns 3 and 4 to score the race win.
Reddick didn’t expect to be able to get back by Larson for the win.
“These late-race restarts, it gets really, really crazy there. Obviously, I had a run on [Larson], and I was just shocked I was able to get to his inside there,” Reddick admitted.
Like Larson, Reddick looked like he had the race win secured in regulation, until he got into the outside wall, and then started losing fuel pressure in the closing laps, which allowed Denny Hamlin to get around him.
As Hamlin was coming back to the finish line to take the white flag, Cody Ware spun, bringing out the only caution for an incident on the day. That caution gave Reddick new life, which was nearly snuffed out on the final restart. But he just seems to always find a way this year.
“Yeah, you know, just really blessed with the late caution. How about that, was that nuts or what?” Reddick asked the crowd at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick is now up to 13 victories in his NASCAR Cup Series career, and this win came in his 227th start. The win is also another for Michael Jordan as a NASCAR team owner, and the NBA legend was beaming ear-to-ear about the latest clutch performance by his star driver, Reddick.
“23XI, all the guys drove well today. We finished, I think, all four cars in the top-15, so, I mean, that says a lot about the program. And this kid is on fire,” Jordan said. “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know if I can cool him down. He’s unbelievable. That was an unbelievable last couple of laps, and I’m proud of him, I’m proud of the whole team.”
Larson held on for the runner-up finish in the race, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s winless drought continues. Larson hasn’t won since he scored the victory in the 2025 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe came to life on the final restart, and collected a third-place effort, while Denny Hamlin was frustrated as he crossed the line in fourth.
“I mean, obviously, it’s not winning,” Hamlin anguished when asked what was the most frustrating part of finishing fourth. “It’s Cody Ware, six laps down, wrecking. I don’t know, just add it up. It’s just, I fell for the same move that [Larson] got me a couple of years ago when I was on the inside. So, I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I’m making and not executing those last few laps.”
Bubba Wallace was the final of the top-five finishers in Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
Bell, who suffered damage in the overtime incident, would spin onto pit road coming to the white flag and would limp home to a 20th-place finish.
Reddick shouldered the blame for Bell’s disappointing finish after the race.
“I feel like I have to say, obviously, just for how I feel, I never like being on the other side of it, I really hate that for Christopher Bell,” Reddick explained. “You know, it was good hard racing, and [Hamlin] came up, and I took off tight. Not thrilled, I got Christopher there. I hate that for him because he was having a good, solid day.”
Race Results
- 45-Tyler Reddick
- 5-Kyle Larson
- 19-Chase Briscoe
- 11-Denny Hamlin
- 23-Bubba Wallace
- 6-Brad Keselowski
- 24-William Byron
- 9-Chase Elliott
- 54-Ty Gibbs
- 17-Chris Buescher
Click here for the full race results
Race To The Chase
With 17 races remaining until the start of the Chase for the Bill France Cup, Tyler Reddick continues to pour it on the competition. The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota now holds a 105-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the regular season championship standings.
Shane van Gisbergen fell out of the 16-driver Chase Grid this weekend with a 36th-place finish. Here is the updated Chase Grid after Kansas:
- Tyler Reddick, +260 points
- Denny Hamlin, +155
- Ryan Blaney, +140
- Ty Gibbs, +122
- Kyle Larson, +117
- Chase Elliott, +108
- William Byron, +78
- Bubba Wallace, +78
- Brad Keselowski, +67
- Christopher Bell, +64
- Chris Buescher, +62
- Carson Hocevar, +40
- Ryan Preece, +38
- Joey Logano, +28
- Chase Briscoe, +17
- Daniel Suarez, +13
- Austin Cindric, -13 points
- Shane van Gisbergen, -32
- Michael McDowell, -36
- Ross Chastain, -46
The Next Race
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 26. That race will be televised on FOX, and coverage will kick off at 3:00 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the event.
