Reddick Wins at Darlington; Claims 4th Win of Season

After Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions as well as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, things were still unclear as far as what to really expect on Sunday afternoon as the NASCAR Cup Series took to the track at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400.

In case you missed it, the sanctioning body opted to experiment with the aero package – going with the one originally intended for use solely on the flat-surfaced short tracks and ovals a mile in length or less. That package, featuring a short spoiler and just two strakes on the rear diffuser attached the the back bumper area of the underbody, was hoped to be a step towards fixing the predictability of the on-track product that has become of Darlington since the beginning of the gen 7 (NextGen) era four years ago.

With softer tire compounds and the less aero-dependent design, it was commonly believed that the abrasive track, especially with the added caveat of temperatures in the 90s at the drop of the green flag, would cause so much tire wear and loose handling that the management of it all being in the driver’s hands would make for a much more entertaining race. Of course, what is considered entertaining is like the Lady in Black’s (Darlington’s nickname) beauty – in the eye of the beholder.

The package was a recipe for a classic run around the mile and a half egg-shaped oval: the best car (or cars) get out in front, gap the field as it spreads out, and lead long green flag runs while also lapping a lot of cars. That sounds incredibly boring if you are one who wants every race to be like a superspeedway. But, if you are of reasonable mind and know that not every race will be wide open with one big pack running around eventually leading to a huge mess. Racing, like many sports, has disciplines – each of which requires different skill sets, physical abilities, endurance, and mental toughness. Darlington encompasses all three in one in addition to the behind-the-scenes aspects of building and maintaining a car fast enough to compete.

If you were expecting an old-school feel for this race, that is exactly how it began. Tyler Reddick started from the pole, joined by his 23XI racing teammate Bubba Wallace on the front row. The opening stage was mostly uneventful on the track, but chaos began to strike behind the scenes. By lap 25, the lap time drop off was evident as tire wear began to take its course, leading to an early green flag stop cycle just shy of lap 40. During those stops, chaos struck Reddick as he began to notice he was losing voltage.

After having to switch off everything non-essential (mostly driver cooling elements such as the cool shirt, helmet air conditioner, and the fans blowing on his back), he had to come in while pit road was closed ahead of the stage break caution, incurring a penalty to check to see if the battery would make it to the end. The 45 eventually came in a second time during the break and changed to a bigger battery in order to hopefully solve the problem. All of that allowed Brad Keselowski to cycle to the lead – and he would go on to dominate much of the rest of the event.

“It was brutal”, said Reddick of the grueling conditions in the car. “Those last 100 laps were really hot. I never really ever run with my helmet’s visor up, but today I had to. I had no air coming to me. If I had it down, I was going to be cooking and my visor would be fogging up from the sweat. I was getting rubber and dirt in my eyes, especially on the whole last run. It was not easy to fight through it, but I was in a place where I was willing to give up everything to have a chance to win this race. I have wanted to win here so badly for so long.”

Ryan Blaney was also affected by the pit road gremlins when after his stop during the first stage break, he had to pull into another Ford team’s box because of uncertainty as to whether or not the lugnut on one of his tires was fully tightened. While it was ultimately determined that there was no issue, the 12 would have to drop to the rear of the field and pass a lot of cars to get to the front. The incident also continued a frustratingly negative trend, making for the third straight week in which they had an issue with wheel tightness. Bubba Wallace saw his day take a turn in similar fashion when his crew stopped him to check a lug. While all four were given the ok, Wallace lost a lot of time that would be hard to recover from after starting the race in the second spot.

Things got worse for Bubba when he was involved in the first “natural” caution of the race. Erik Jones ended up getting sideways in turn 4 with Wallace behind him. Bubba tagged the wall and took some damage that made him have to come to pit several times during the second stanza. After the restart with 69 to go, green flag stops would happen twenty laps later, and eventually Keselowski cycled his way to a sweep of the stages.

The yellow would fly one more time for a non-stage break incident when Riley Herbst went for a solo spin down to the apron against the inside wall along the front straightaway, and once the green flew, RFK once again took the top spot. This time, Chris Buescher would take the point from his boss and lead roughly the next 50 laps. But Tyler Reddick, not seeing Buescher’s hand signal, ended up slamming into the back of him as the 17 car was trying to come down to pit road for his final green flag stop. That gave Keselowski the lead once again, and once the cycle was complete, it was clear that this race would be a 2-man battle for the checkered flag.

Ordinarily it is a late caution that ends up changing the result when one driver leads over two-thirds of the race. But, this time, it was something as simple as the best car in the field managing to overcome early issues, cut through the field, and claim the win. Despite once again facing battery issues that they could have given up track position to replace, the 45 team decided to stay out, switching off every “creature comfort” in the car for a second time. Reddick grinded it out, showing he was much faster than Brad down the home stretch by making up ground very quickly. After reclaiming the second spot, Reddick caught up to and later passed Keselowski on lap 265, never to look back as Tyler went on to win his 4th race out of the season’s first 6.

“Right away the voltage was way down”, said Reddick. “We noticed on lap one and the alternator just didn’t work all day for whatever reason”, said Reddick. “It was unfortunate we got bit by that. It was difficult having to fight through that, but everyone had a good game plan and knew what we needed to do at the end of the first stage. We tried to make the battery last as long as possible. At the end, we had a choice to either give up all our track position again or just switch everything off. I was asked if I was willing to stay out and keep everything off. At that point, I was on board because I really wanted to win here and with a car as good as we had today, I was willing to take the risk.”

“I never thought we’d win four”, Reddick later added when reflecting on the 45 team’s unprecedented start to the 2026 season. “Ideally, I thought we could win a couple. But to win four – and in the fashion we have done it, is remarkable. COTA was all about defense. But, Daytona, Atlanta, here.. You could say we had to fight through some sort of adversity. From issues with the car to  getting caught in a wreck or having to hold off the field like we did at COTA. For us to be able to fight through these things that kept us from winning a year ago to being able to win now is remarkable and fulfilling. I am really proud of my team.”

As far as the rest of the field goes, Ryan Blaney battled back to finish third, Carson Hocevar – after starting last, came across the line in 4th, and Austin Cindric notched a top 5. Ty Gibbs ended up P6, Daniel Suarez was 7th, and William Byron finished eighth while Chris Buescher bounced back from the contact with Reddick to bring it home in 9th place. Erik Jones rounded out the top ten while Denny Hamlin was eleventh, Chase Briscoe was 12th, Shane Van Gisbergen crossed in 14th, and Chase Elliott was 15th. Outside of the top fifteen, Ross Chastain was 16th, rookie Connor Zilisch was 18th, Christopher Bell was 19th, Kyle Busch finished 21st, Justin Allgaier parked it in 24th, Kyle Larson was 32nd followed by Joey Logano, and Bubba Wallace ended up in the 34th position.

With Darlington behind us until the Southern 500 in September, the short track package will get another show next week as the schedule flips over to Martinsville and the Cookout 400. The green flag will drop Sunday at 3:30 PM.