Tyler Reddick Wins As Larson and Hamlin Falter in Phoenix

Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway served as the official flipping of the script for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase. Heading into the day, Kyle Larson held a 49-point advantage over the field. Leaving Sunday's race, which was won by Tyler Reddick, five drivers are now within that 49-point threshold of Larson's point lead.

It was a wild reversal of fortunes for Larson, and equally, Reddick, the race's winner.

Reddick, who won five of the opening nine races of the season, and looked like a bonafide championship contender, fell into a summer slump, one that he had been unable to shake even after entering the Chase. But Reddick says that he, and his No. 45 23XI Racing team never lost faith in each other.

"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," Reddick said in his post-race interview on USA Network.

He finally snapped the slump, as he gained the lead on a restart with 18 laps remaining, and he never looked back. Reddick, who was on two fresh tires late in the race, was able to hold off Ryan Blaney, who had four fresh tires, behind him.

For Reddick, the strategy employed by his crew chief Billy Scott made the difference down the stretch.

"Good strategy. I think Billy had a really good idea what we needed to do there, going off what our balance was," Reddick explained.

Once the race went green for the final stretch of the race, Reddick says he feels like he got a little lucky.

"Yeah, just got really fortunate. I didn't have a good launch," Reddick admitted. "There was a hole. I was able to get through it. I thought [Chase Briscoe] was going to be able to cover the move into [Turn] 3. I got him loose. We checked out."

The win is the sixth of the season for Reddick, and his first since the ninth race of the season at Kansas Speedway. And while Reddick didn't quite make it into the grouping of drivers who pulled to within 49 points of Larson on Sunday, he isn't far off. Reddick now sits seventh in the standings, 56 points behind Larson.

While it wasn't a win, Blaney was able to slice a significant chunk of his point deficit on Sunday afternoon.

"Overall, really proud of the effort. Appreciate Menards, Richmond, and Ford Racing for what they do. A lot of points today. Hard to be upset about that," Blaney said. "Try to go the next two weeks and do the same."

Heading into Sunday's race, Blaney was 85 points behind Larson. After the checkered flag was displayed at Phoenix, Blaney is now just 40 points back. As for his mindset with three races remaining, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion had a measured response.

"Control what you can control," Blaney stated. "I feel like we do a great job in our building of working together and having each other's backs. I feel like we're going to do the same thing this upcoming week. Bring fast cars. It will be a fun one. Definitely attainable. We'll have to go to work."

Chase Elliott took a third-place result on a quiet, but decent afternoon for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and he was followed across the finish line by Christopher Bell.

Bell, who has been frustrated by eight runner-up finishes this season, is runner-up again after a fourth-place finish on Sunday, because he is now second to Larson in the championship standings, and he sits just five points behind the driver of the No. 5 car heading into a date with the ever-treacherous Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.

"We're right there in it. Really proud of our team," Bell said. "They've been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races. We've been able to qualify well and run up front in stages.

"I felt like our performance probably tapered off a little bit as the day went on. We had the strategy to put tires there at the end, had good restarts to get some track position. We're in the hunt."

Corey Heim, the part-time, soon to be full-time driver for 23XI Racing, came home with a solid fifth-place finish on Sunday.

Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Bubba Wallace, who held the lead going into a late-race caution, was busted for speeding on pit road, which sent him to the rear of the field with under 20 laps to go. Wallace, a Chase contender, would only be able to fight back to a 17th-place finish.

Other Chase contenders outside of the top-10 on Sunday included Ryan Preece (18th), Austin Cindric (19th), William Byron (21st), Chris Buescher (22nd), Denny Hamlin (28th), and Kyle Larson (34th).

As Larson struggled mightily from the 22nd starting spot in Sunday's race, and Hamlin racked up 12 Stage Points between Stages 1 and 2, it appeared that Hamlin would be in a prime position to leave Phoenix in a good spot in the Chase Grid.

And honestly, all things considered, it didn't shake out horribly for Hamlin, who now sits fourth in the standings, 31 points back, but Sunday's race was a massive missed opportunity.

In the final Stage, Hamlin suffered a flat rear tire, which caused him to make an unscheduled pit stop under the green flag. According to Hamlin, the tire gave him no indications that he was about to see a decent day come undone prior to the tire going down.

"No, just a corner before I felt the car bottom out. I knew at that point definitely had a tire," Hamlin said. "At that point, trying to hang on and somehow try to get to pit road."

During the trip down pit road, Hamlin was busted for speeding, which added insult to injury, and when a caution flag came out moments later for a crash involving Cody Ware, Hamlin's pit road penalty would prevent him from taking the wave around, and it trapped him a lap down.

For Hamlin, it is what it is.

"The beginning was not great, and once we got back in traffic, I thought the second half of the race we were really strong," Hamlin said. "Could contend for the win. Just right there with the 19 when the tire blew for third. Definitely not ideal. But, yeah, what can you do?"

The only thing that saved Hamlin's day was the fact that Larson's troubling afternoon got even worse. On Lap 284, Larson cut a tire and skidded hard into the outside wall in Turn 1. This would send Larson behind the wall, where he would finish 34th, 31 laps off the pace.

While it was a rough afternoon for Hamlin and Larson, the tough outing for both drivers allowed many drivers to work themselves back into championship contention. With three races remaining, it looks like we may have a hell of a fight on our hands for the Bill France Cup.

"It's going to be a battle, that's for sure," Bell, who moved into the second spot in the Chase Grid, said after the race.

Updated Chase Grid (Three Races Remaining)

1. Kyle Larson, 2,370 points
2. Christopher Bell, -5
3. Chase Briscoe, -24
4. Denny Hamlin, -31
5. Ryan Blaney, -40
6. Joey Logano, -44
7. Tyler Reddick, -56
8. Austin Cindric, -130
9. Ty Gibbs, -132
10. Chase Elliott, -149
11. Carson Hocevar, -158
12. Bubba Wallace, -162
13. Daniel Suarez, -188
14. William Byron, -190
15. Chris Buescher, -204
16. Ryan Preece, -211

What's Next?

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 25. That race will be televised on NBC and coverage of the event is set to kick off at 2 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.

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