"It's pretty incredible": Tyler Reddick opens up on his Homestead win and last lap move over Ryan Blaney
After punching his ticket to the Championship 4 with a victory at Homestead, Tyler Reddick looked back on his big win. During the post-race press conference, Reddick was asked if he considers his Homestead win the biggest and most important one of his career. The 23XI Racing driver has been a full-time Cup driver since 2020 and got his first win in 2022 with RCR. That season, Reddick won three races, following which he moved to 23XI Racing in 2023.
During his first season, the #45 driver won twice. But this year he achieved two major career milestones. Earlier this season, he became the NASCAR Regular Season Champion, and now with his win at Homestead, he'll be racing for a championship. And because of what his Homestead win will potentially enable him to achieve, Reddick deemed it as a big one of his career.
"This is pretty big, yeah. To do it that way, at a place like this, when everything was on the line like it was, it’s pretty incredible. We got to enjoy it. We’re going to certainly enjoy it and celebrate it. Monday morning on, we’re going to be thinking about Phoenix and getting ready for what lies ahead," Tyler Reddick said.
A big highlight from Reddick's Homestead win was his last-gasp pass on Ryan Blaney in the penultimate corner of the race.
Tyler Reddick opens up on his last lap move which earned him the sensational Homestead win
Tyler Reddick's move was one that Brett Griffin, veteran NASCAR spotter, deemed "one of the best" in the sport's history.
However, in the immediate aftermath of the race, Reddick didn't realize the greatness of the finish and his move. He said in the post-race press conference:
"Living it, it just seemed like, yeah, it wasn’t a great restart, but I just could not believe that we were holding on as good as we were. My opportunity was the #12 and #11 being worried about each other, try to get in the middle of it, then make something out of it. Yeah, I was very fortunate that I was left to top at my favorite track, my favorite corner, which is three and four here."
"Just took a risk, and it paid off. I don’t know what else really to say," Tyler Reddick added.
Reddick added that he knew coming to Homestead, he had to leave with a win. However, he didn't imagine it to be "as crazy as it was" in reality. The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that he was in a tough spot and had to rise to the occasion, which he did with his team.