NASCAR
Tyler Reddick Takes Kansas in Overtime Shuffle
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – 2026’s most dominant man and team remain the ones to beat in Kansas. Chasing down Denny Hamlin on a long green flag run, Tyler Reddick initially ran out of fuel and hit the wall just as a caution came out. On an overtime restart, Reddick was slow to get going but soon powered by Kyle Larson for the lead on the last lap. Driver 45 now owns five victories after nine races this season, continuing his electric start this season.
In shades of Kansas last fall, Denny Hamlin quickly asserted dominance and looked unbeatable early on. Hamlin won Stage 1 by three seconds. This effort was replicated in Stage 2 by Kyle Larson.
Christopher Bell initially fired off in the final stage, until the final green flag pit cycle. Hamlin opted to short pit five laps earlier than Bell and Reddick, soon inheriting the top spot. The 45’s longer run pace eventually chased Hamlin back down, though. Reddick retook the lead with nine laps left.
Reddick’s path to victory was anything but smooth sailing, however. The No. 45 ran out of fuel and had to switch to his reserve tank, allowing Hamlin by again and slight wall contact. Right as this exchange happened, a Cody Ware spin sent this race into overtime.
Again similar to last fall’s Kansas race, the two-lap run to the checkers saw chaos unfold. Kyle Larson initially took the leaders three wide into turn one, with Reddick, Bell, and Hamlin all making contact for second. Reddick was able to get back to Larson’s inside by turn three, clearing the 5 en route to another victory.
AN INCREDIBLE FINISH IN OVERTIME AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY!! pic.twitter.com/msLDuuRBnO
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 19, 2026
“Just really blessed with the late caution,” Reddick said. “Was that nuts or what? I couldn’t believe it. First off, I feel like I have to say obviously just for how I feel. I never like being on that side of it. Really hate that for Christopher Bell. Good, hard racing. The 11 came up, I mean, I took off tight. Not thrilled I got Christopher there. I hate that for him because he was having a good, solid day.”
“Man, these late race restarts get crazy. I obviously had a run on the 5. I was shocked I was able to get to his inside there. An incredible SupplyHouse Toyota Camry all day long. Yeah, it was really painful to get that late caution.”
“We were really solid here last fall. The car was a lot like that here again this weekend. We didn’t lead a lot of laps. I let Denny get away there and save one. We were behind running him in most of the time.”
“Yeah, to be able to make the right call, great call by Billy [Scott, crew chief] to put two tires on. We didn’t have the cleanest restart. I tried to cover the 20. He got outside. We were three-wide and just all ran out of room.”
“Got to deliver for bossman. If he’s going to hang out for us, we got to get him dubs!”
Speaking of Reddick’s team owner Michael Jordan, he was once again in attendance to witness these crazy last few laps. “Look, I’m racing against Denny,” Jordan said. “I really wanted to beat him because I know we’re going to talk a lot of trash a little bit later. It was a good race. When we started to run out of fuel, I didn’t know what was happening. 23XI, all the guys drove well today. All four cars in the top 15. That says a lot about the program.”
“This kid is on fire. I don’t know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable. Unbelievable last couple laps. I’m proud of the whole team.”
“When you win, it’s always fun. 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. I just think we need to continually build on this, without a doubt.”
Behind Reddick and Larson were Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace. The rest of the Kansas top 10 were: Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher.
Reddick’s stranglehold atop the Cup Series standings now grows to 105 points over team owner Denny Hamlin. Ryan Blaney, Gibbs, and Larson are all not far back in the top five after nine races.
2026 will see the NASCAR Cup Series’ tenth date next Sunday from Talladega Superspeedway. The Jack Links 500 goes green at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Already the third drafting race of the year, Reddick will try and stay undefeated on NASCAR’s wildest tracks.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
