NASCAR
Tyler Reddick Comes to Life Late at Phoenix, Earns Sixth Win of 2026
AVONDALE, Ariz. – The winningest driver and team of 2026 earned a long-awaited maiden Chase victory at Phoenix. Tyler Reddick had the right tire strategy late to capitalize, taking a sixth checkered flag on the campaign. Now back on the fringes of the championship battle, Reddick looks to bookend the year with dominant drives.
From the pole, Ryan Blaney quickly checked out in Stage 1, gunning for a Phoenix three-peat. A late caution and slow pit stop from the No. 12 crew shook up the leaderboard, however. Denny Hamlin briefly held the lead but the opening stage win went to Joey Logano. Stage 2 subsequently went to Logano as well.
Logano’s march to a dominant fifth Phoenix win would only be derailed by Hamlin cutting a tire. This incident for the No. 11 and a simultaneous spin by Cody Ware brought out a caution inside the final 90 laps, where the No. 22 lost ground on pit road. This exchange gave command to Bubba Wallace, who began to drive off chasing his first win of the season.
Problems for the No. 11!@dennyhamlin is forced down pit road. pic.twitter.com/BR6mohjrJd
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 18, 2026
Wallace’s time out front would be short-lived, however, thanks to Kyle Larson pounding the wall. An already-horrible weekend all around for the championship leader ended with the No. 5 finishing 34th after this damage. Meanwhile, Hamlin was trapped a lap down for the rest of the race and finished 28th.
Major championship implications!
Points leader @KyleLarsonRacin gets into the wall and sustains heavy damage. pic.twitter.com/Bj8aeqx0kb
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 18, 2026
The ensuing trip down pit road set Wallace back with a speeding penalty. On the flip side, though, 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick was first off pit road on four fresh tires. The restart saw the No. 45 split cars four-wide to make up lost ground, and soon get by Chase Briscoe for the point. With no further caution, Reddick set sail for his sixth victory lane trip of 2026 and his first since Kansas in April.
What a move by @TylerReddick on the restart! 👀 pic.twitter.com/4aOhVUt6rH
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 18, 2026
“That’s way too long [between wins],” Reddick said. “Man, the way we worked there, I mean, thinking of Phoenix, we wanted to be a lot better when we came back here. I think we checked that box.”
“For us, this group never lost motivation, never lost the drive to keep searching and keep trying to find ways to make ourselves better, just be an all-around better team. I don’t know, something about today. It didn’t really start right. Just something about today, I had a really good feeling. Practice was amazing. Yeah, we’re back to Victory Lane. First victory for Rockstar Energy, too.”
“I think Billy [Scott, crew chief] had a really good idea what we needed to do there, going off what our balance was. Yeah, just got really fortunate. I didn’t have a good launch. There was a hole. I was able to get through it. I thought the 19 was going to be able to cover the move into three. I got him loose. We checked out.”
Ryan Blaney rebounded to second in the closing laps, just ahead of: Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, and Corey Heim. Larson coughed up most of his championship lead with the DNF, now only five points up on Bell heading into the final three weeks.
Chase standings after Phoenix:
Larson retains his points lead by just 5 now over Bell. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/O0y4Tqvy9Q
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) October 18, 2026
The ultimate unknown race of The Chase is next on deck as round eight – Talladega Superspeedway. The YellaWood 500 will see seven drivers enter within a race’s worth of the championship lead, and all contenders on edge. The Alabama green flag will fly Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The draft’s great equalizer will leave its mark on The Chase. Championship dreams are at risk of ending next weekend.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images
