Tyler Reddick Takes Win in Sloppy Playoff Race at Texas

Reddick survived a chaotic six-hour race at Texas that had 17 cautions, a rain delay, lightning delay, cars on fire, drivers crashing from the lead, and cars hitting each other under caution. This was the third win of the season for Reddick, and his first on an oval. Despite being eliminated by two points last weekend at Bristol, the team was able to rally for another race win.

"I was extremely worried, I’m not going to lie," Reddick said about his tires. "I was just trying to maximize and just use the gap that I built over Joey, just in case. Every time we’ve had a strong car, we’ve been bit by something. Just really proud to be able to get this Chevy to victory lane. We were so fast with this car and they deserve to get to victory lane." Reddick led 70 laps in today’s race.

Now four races into the playoffs, there still has not been a playoff driver celebrating in victory lane. The last five races have all been won by Richard Childress Racing, Petty GMS, 23XI Racing, and RFK Racing.

Joey Logano managed to stay out of trouble and came home with a runner-up finish to take over the lead in the championship standings. Justin Haley had a fantastic result, finishing in third while Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe each got a much-needed top-five result to boost them in the playoffs as the series heads to Talladega.

The race was marred by tire issues that plagued nearly half of the field. The 17 cautions today were a track record, and several playoff drivers were affected by the performance of the Goodyear rubber. There were five drivers that crashed while leading the race. Today's 500-mile event was a race of attrition, which has been the theme for many of the races in the last month.

William Byron and Denny Hamlin each came away with top-ten finishes, but the two had a couple of scuffles on the track that could lead to some bad blood in the coming weeks. The two came together when Hamlin brushed the No. 24 up and into the wall, and Byron retaliated by spinning Hamlin under caution. No penalty was issued, and Hamlin tried to repay the favor.

"He ran me out of room," Byron said. "Thought we broke the toe link. We're lucky we finished. It was really, really hard contact. I didn't mean to obviously spin him out over there. Obviously I'm pissed off, just not going to get run like that. We've always raced so well together. I don't know what it was all about."

Hamlin had more choice words for the young Byron. "I guess we can just wreck each other under caution," he said. "I tried to wreck him back. I keep hearing these guys. I'll just add it to the list of guys when I get a chance. They're going to get it. It all works itself out. We'll be racing each other at some point. He'll lose a lot of spots because he's racing me."

Chase Elliott came into today as the leader in the championship, as the points were reset for this round of the playoffs. That changed when his No. 9 Chevrolet spun and crashed on Lap 185 coming out of Turn 4 while leading. Elliott came to a stop in the infield grass, as his car caught fire. He dropped to 7th in the standings, with Talladega and the ROVAL looming next.

"It’s not a great position to be in for sure, but it is what it is now," Elliott said. "We were actually decent here for once, so that was nice while it lasted. I’m not sure that Goodyear is at fault. Goodyear always takes the black eye, but they’re put in a really tough position by NASCAR to build a tire that can survive these types of racetracks with this car. We’ll go to Talladega, try to get a win, and go on down the road."

Christopher Bell was another one of the playoff drivers that had a brutal afternoon. After finishing inside the top-five in each of the first three playoff races, Bell spun on Lap 78 today, then again on Lap 137 in the same spot. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver saw his day come to an early end, as the crew was not able to repair his No. 20 Camry. Bell now sits 11th in the standings, 29 points below the cutoff line.

"The second right-rear blown of the day," Bell said. "Very disappointing weekend. I'm in a pretty bad spot now. I don't know if we are going to be able to get out of this points hole, but we will give it our best."

Kyle Busch was a victim again today, although his crash on Lap 50 came after his No. 18 Toyota got up and into the resin. "I didn’t know as a race car driver you could push too hard, but certainly, it was a resin issue. Once these cars snap, they are gone. They are not like the old one where you have a little bit of time to react and catch it. When that stuff is not activated, it is just ice."

Alex Bowman crashed on Lap 97 and spent most of the day trying to recover. He finished 29th and now finds himself at the very bottom of the playoff standings. In all, six playoff drivers finished outside of the top-ten today. Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Bell, and Bowman are the four drivers below the cutoff line.

Things are really going to get interesting now, with two wild and unpredictable races left in this round. The next stop comes at Talladega, where anything can happen. Coverage for Sunday's YellaWood 500 begins at 2:00 ET on NBC.