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Reddick fuel gamble pays off with Las Vegas Xfinity win

Tyler Reddick went for a big gamble in Las Vegas and it paid off handsomely.

Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Russell LaBounty / NKP / Motorsport Images

Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
 Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Supra Rheem/Smurfit Kappa

Reddick – with Christopher Bell closing fast – stretched his fuel 70 laps and held on for the win in Saturday’s Rhino Pro 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, clinching the 2019 Xfinity Series regular season championship in Victory Lane.

The win is the fifth of the season for Reddick, the reigning series champion. 

“It was nerve-wracking to say the least the last few laps I started losing fuel pressure. It was tumbling,” said Reddick, who ran out of fuel attempting a burnout on the frontstretch. “Christopher Bell had a real fast race car.

“We came in for fuel and tires and had to save a lot and it allowed us to run some really, really fast laps there before we had on tires at the end to keep us out front. Our car was fast on the long run and that’s what we needed to get a buffer at the end.

“We’ve had a really, really fast car here in the past. Today we didn’t have it but we got them on strategy again.”

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Bell, who led 154 of the 200 laps, finished second, Brandon Jones was third, Cole Custer was fourth and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-five.

Joining Reddick in the 2019 Xfinity playoffs are Bell, Jones, Custer, Allgaier, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Sieg.

On Lap 112, Tommy Joe Martins spun off the exit of Turn 4 to bring out the first non-stage caution of the race. After pit stops, Bell came off pit road first and led the way on the restart on Lap 117.

Allgaier worked his way around Bell off Turn 2 to take the lead as Bell dropped to second and Custer ran third.

 

On Lap 126, Bell ran down Allgaier on the inside of Turn 3 and retook the lead. 

Two laps later, C.J. McLaughlin wrecked off Turn 4 to bring out another caution. The race returned to green on Lap 134 with Bell in the lead followed by Allgaier and Custer.

On Lap 142, Briscoe got around Allgaier and moved into the second position. 

With 40 laps remaining in the race, Bell held a 4.5-second lead over Briscoe while Jones had made his way up to third.

Several drivers made their way to pit road on Lap 167 to begin a final round of green-flag pit stops to get new tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race.

During the stops, Briscoe was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to return to pit road to serve a pass-through penalty.

By Lap 181, Bell had cycled back up to second, but Reddick remained out front, trying to stretch his fuel to the finish without making a final stop.

With 10 laps to go, Reddick still held an 8-second lead over Bell but Bell was told by his team they didn’t believe Reddick could make it.

Stage 2 

Once again Bell made short work of the field, leading all but two laps on his way to the Stage 1 victory over Allgaier.

Custer was third, Briscoe fourth and Reddick completed the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, all of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Bell the first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 52, Bell led the way followed by Allgaier and Custer.

Cindric was penalized for an uncontrolled tire penalty and had to restart the race from the rear of the field.

Allgaier got around Bell to take the lead on the restart only to see Bell get it back before the conclusion of the lap.

With 30 laps to go in the stage, Custer moved up to second and began challenging Bell for the lead. 

After 60 laps, Bell still held a steady 1.2-second lead over Custer while Allgaier ran third.

On Lap 80, Allgaier finally ran down Custer to retake the second spot as Custer dropped to third.

Stage 1 

Bell led from start to finish in the first 45-lap stage, easily holding off Allgaier for his 14th stage win of the season.

Reddick was third, Cindric fourth and Custer completed the top-five.

Custer started on the pole but Bell worked his way around him to take the lead on the first lap.

Ten laps into the race, Bell held about a half-a-second lead over Allgaier as Custer ran third.

With 25 laps remaining in the first stage, Bell had opened a 2.4-second lead over Allgaier. Custer was third, Cindric fourth and Reddick fifth.

After 35 laps, Bell’s advantage had ballooned to 5.4 seconds over Allgaier as Reddick moved up to third.

Kyle Weatherman had to start the race from the rear of the field because his team made an engine change in his No. 74 Chevrolet.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led
1 2 United States Tyler Reddick  Chevrolet 200   30
2 20 United States Christopher Bell  Toyota 200 0.738 154
3 19 United States Brandon Jones  Toyota 200 18.569  
4 00 United States Cole Custer  Ford 200 19.388  
5 7 United States Justin Allgaier  Chevrolet 200 20.198 15
6 9 United States Noah Gragson  Chevrolet 200 29.910  
7 08 United States Gray Gaulding  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
8 23 United States John Hunter Nemechek  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
9 18 Riley Herbst  Toyota 199 1 lap  
10 10 United States Elliott Sadler  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
11 98 United States Chase Briscoe  Ford 199 1 lap 1
12 22 United States Austin Cindric  Ford 199 1 lap  
13 1 United States Michael Annett  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
14 39 United States Ryan Sieg  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
15 8 United States Ryan Truex  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
16 11 United States Justin Haley  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
17 86 United States Brandon Brown  Chevrolet 198 2 laps  
18 90 Canada Alex Labbé  Chevrolet 198 2 laps  
19 36 United States Josh Williams  Chevrolet 198 2 laps  
20 07 United States Ray Black Jr.  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
21 51 United States Jeremy Clements  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
22 01 United States Stephen Leicht  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
23 4 United States B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 196 4 laps  
24 0 United States Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 196 4 laps  
25 5 United States Matt Mills  Chevrolet 195 5 laps  
26 61 United States Tommy Joe Martins  Toyota 194 6 laps  
27 52 United States David Starr  Chevrolet 194 6 laps  
28 99 Ja Junior  Toyota 193 7 laps  
29 15 Tyler Matthews  Chevrolet 191 9 laps  
30 35 United States Joey Gase  Toyota 187 13 laps  
31 78 United States Vinnie Miller  Chevrolet 186 14 laps  
32 93 CJ Mclaughlin  Chevrolet 121 79 laps  
33 74 United States Kyle Weatherman  Chevrolet 66 134 laps  
34 17 United States Joe Nemechek  Chevrolet 56 144 laps  
35 66 United States Chad Finchum  Toyota 52 148 laps  
36 13 United States Stan Mullis  Toyota 22 178 laps  
37 89 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 20 180 laps  
38 38 United States J.J. Yeley  Chevrolet 2 198 laps  

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