Tyler Reddick wins the GEICO 500

On Sunday, Tyler Reddick in his Toyota Camry won the GEICO 500 on the last lap of what was a memorable race.

Reddick narrowly missed being involved in a multi-car crash 400 yards from the finish line vaulting from third place to first.

"Man, it's incredible," said Reddick. "Everyone on this 45 Toyota Camry worked really hard today. Didn't really work out in that third stage for us, but we were able to fight and defend our track position."

Race leader Michael McDowell caused multiple cars to crash by trying to block his competitors from passing him on the fourth turn.

Reddick led for 13 laps. He is 28-years-old and from California, and races for 23XI Racing team.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan is one of the team owners along with Denny Hamlin.

"This, to me, is like an NBA playoff game," said Jordan. "I am so ecstatic for the fans who support the sport itself. You know we've been working hard trying to get ourselves to compete against all the top guys in this sport."

Hamlin crashed. He finished #37.

"I just have to give a lot of credit to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex [Jr.], it was just us Toyotas left and they pushed me with everything they had," Reddick said. "Without Martin and Ty and those pushes we don't win this race."

McDowell was late on his attempted block and collided with Brad Keselowski who sent McDowell's car off track. Keselowski finished second. McDowell later apologized to Keselowski for costing him the race.

"He [Keselowski] did everything right," McDowell said. "He pushed me. I was able to get in front of him the first time, but when I came back down I barely wasn't clear. I'll have to watch the replay. I hate it."

McDowell won the pole position and led for 36 laps – the most of any driver.

No Ford Mustang has won a race this season.

Reddick and Martin Truex Jr. exchanged the lead 10 times in that final 27-lap stretch.

In the extremely competitive race, 23 different drivers held the lead. There were 73 lead changes.

Kyle Larson had a disappointing 20th-place finish at Talladega, but he remains in first place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He leads Truex who finished 11th.

The NASCAR Cup Series goes to Dover Motor Speedway for the Würth 400 on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CDT. It will be televised on FS1.

https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2024/04/21/tyler-reddick-wins-cup-series-race-at-talladega/