Tyler Reddick Stuns Kyle Larson at Kansas and Keeps His Blazing Start Rolling With 5th Win

Tyler Reddick is not just winning races right now. He is starting to pile up the kind of early-season numbers that drag a driver out of the weekly contender conversation and into the history books.

Reddick passed Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime Sunday at Kansas Speedway to win the AdventHealth 400, giving the 23XI Racing driver his fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

The win came in dramatic fashion after a late caution erased what looked like Denny Hamlin’s path to victory and turned the finish into a two-lap scramble.

The result pushed Reddick into rare company. He became just the fourth driver to win five of the first nine races in a Cup Series season, and the first to do it since Dale Earnhardt in 1987.

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That alone is enough to change the tone around a season. This is no longer just a hot stretch. It is the kind of start that forces people to look backward through NASCAR history to find comparisons.

Sunday’s race had been mostly clean and methodical until the closing moments. There were no cautions outside the stage breaks until Cody Ware spun just before the white flag, immediately flipping the entire race.

Hamlin was out front at that point and appeared headed toward what would have been his record-extending fifth victory at Kansas. Instead, the late yellow brought the leaders to pit road, bunched the field back together, and opened the door one more time.

Hamlin beat Reddick off pit road, but the overtime restart changed everything. Larson, lined up behind Hamlin on the inside, launched into the lead when the green flag dropped. Behind them, Christopher Bell made contact with both Reddick and Hamlin as the field stacked up, and for a moment Larson looked ready to drive away and finally end a 32-race winless streak.

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That lasted until the backstretch on the final lap, when Reddick charged back, pulled alongside Larson entering the final corners, and edged ahead at the checkered flag. Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing, celebrated from pit road as the No. 45 took the win.

“This kid is on fire. I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I can cool him down,” Jordan said. “When you win, it’s always fun, and right now it’s fun for everybody at 23XI. Me being here and being able to see all the wins, I am so happy for the team.”

Reddick made it clear he knew the moment mattered, both because Jordan was in attendance and because the break at the end of the race could have gone a dozen different directions. “Got to deliver for the boss man,” Reddick said of Jordan. “If he’s going to come hang out with us, we have to get him dubs.” Later, he added, “Just really blessed with the late caution. Was that nuts or what? I couldn’t believe it.”

Larson had to settle for second after getting the lead when it mattered most but not being able to hold off Reddick through the final lap. He said the balance on his car changed after the team took two tires on the last stop, leaving him close but still without a victory this season despite three podium finishes. “It was good execution for the restart there,” Larson said. “I got to the lead and I thought I could cruise right there to the checkered.”

Hamlin finished fourth, which only added frustration to what looked moments earlier like a winning day. He was not especially interested in disguising that. “Obviously it’s not winning. It’s Cody Ware, six laps down, wrecking. I don’t know. Add it up,” Hamlin said.

Chase Briscoe finished third, and Bubba Wallace gave 23XI another strong result by taking fifth. All four 23XI cars wound up in the top 15, capping one of the team’s biggest all-around days.

The broader numbers around Reddick only make the run look stronger. He has finished in the top 15 in every race this season, was fourth a week ago at Bristol, and continues to be one of the biggest reasons Toyota has won seven of the first nine Cup races, the first time a manufacturer has done that since Chevrolet in 2007.

23XI president Steve Lauletta said, “I just think the whole team all year has been really poised. It’s not the first time we’ve had any kind of adversity come at us, and they’ve continued to stay calm, keep each other grounded and know we have a fast car. And if you have a fast car, all you have to do is make sure you execute, and that’s what they’ve managed to do.”

Kansas also had its share of smaller storylines before the finish. Hamlin won Stage 1, extending his run of stage success at the track, while Larson took Stage 2 for his third stage win of the season.

But the real story was the same one that keeps following the Cup Series from one week to the next. Tyler Reddick found another way to win. Kansas just happened to make him wait until the final lap of overtime to do it.

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