The NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega was super clean in the first two stages, before the chaos erupted on the final stage. Degas is infamous for mega last lap wrecks, and the GEICO 500 was no different. A last alp duel between pole sitter Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski resulted in a big wreck.
On the last lap of the race coming to the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski who has been pushing McDowell to the front the whole race, tried to take the lead. But the Front Raw Motorsports driver defended with employing a double block. The No:34 Ford driver made the wrong choice while defending Keselowski as he wasn’t clear of the No:6 Ford coming back to the inside lane.
He got spun and the incident made the RFK Racing driver slow down. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who was running P3, took the opportunity to steal the win by taking the lead coming to the checkered flag. McDowell went to collect majority of the field in the incident, while the No:45 Toyota was crossing the finish line. Reddick was over the moon after collecting the win.
Man, it’s incredible. Everyone on this No. 45 Toyota Camry worked really hard today. Didn’t really work out in that third stage for us, but we were able to fight and defend our track position…A lot of chaos. That’s Talladega for you. Tyler Reddick said.
Tyler Reddick credits Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs for the win
The No:45 Camry’s win was the product of the impressive support from his Toyota teammates from JGR, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs. The duo helped him maintain the pace on the outside lane and to take the lead.
I just have to give a lot of credit to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex, it was just us Toyotas left and they pushed me with everything they had. Without Martin and Ty and those pushes we don’t win this race. Tyler Reddick said.
Reddick just like last season has secured the maiden win of the season for 23XI and has secured a playoff berth. He also spoiled the dreams of Ford to get their momentum back with the win and it would be interesting to see how the race would turn out for him.
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