Reddick starts last and a lap down, but wins Bristol Xfinity race

Reddick, who was forced to start from the rear of the field and had to serve a pass-through penalty down pit road because his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection four times, had been running down then-leader Justin Allgaier but got an unexpected gift.

With nine of 300 laps remaining, Allgaier had a tire go down and had to pull off the track, which allowed Reddick to inherit the lead. He then held off a wild charge from Chase Briscoe to win the Food City 300 – his fourth Xfinity Series win of the season.

“I don’t know (how we made this happen). I thought I made the wrong adjustment on the last (pit) stop but we had a really fast Chevrolet,” Reddick said. “We had fresher tires than Justin Allgaier there. We came down pit road and we were just too tight and I thought we were done.

“I don’t know what happened. Everything just happened at the right spot. I fell back to fourth and Jones hit the fence and then (Allgaier) had some sort of issue. As you can I’m speechless, I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I dedicate this win to my car chief Cam Strader. Obviously, he got sent home but we just had some issues in tech – nothing crazy. I hate he couldn’t be here for it. I know he’s at home celebrating and this one’s for him.”

John Hunter Nemechek ended up third, Jeremy Clements was fourth and Austin Cindric claimed the fifth position. Allgaier, after leading 131 laps, ended up eighth.

On Lap 221, Michael Annett spun off the exit for Turn 2 to bring out a caution. Several lead-lap cars elected to pit for new tires but Allgaier remained on the track and in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 227.

With 50 laps remaining, Reddick moved up to the second position, about 2 seconds behind Allgaier as Ryan Sieg ran third.

After 270 laps, Reddick had moved to within a half-second of Allgaier as Brandon Jones ran third. They were followed by Briscoe and Cindric.

On Lap 280, NASCAR threw a caution for suspected fluid on track, which bunched the field. Most of the lead-lap cars elected to remain on the track. Allgaier remained in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 287, followed by Reddick, Jones, Briscoe and Cindric.

On Lap 290, Allgaier had a tire go down and fell off the pace, handing the lead over to Reddick.

Stage 2 

With smoke coming from his No. 18 Toyota, Kyle Busch still managed to hold off Reddick to take the Stage 2 win.

However, Busch immediately took his car to the garage as smoke continued to pour out and he believed he had lost the engine.

“I’m done,” he said over the radio. “I’m taking my victory lap now.”

Allgaier finished third, Cindric was fourth and Nemechek ended up fifth.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, several lead-lap cars elected to pit but Noah Gragson stayed out and took over the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 93. Busch was second and Cindric third.

Busch got around Gragson on Lap 95 to retake the lead as Gragson dropped to second.

With 65 laps remaining in Stage 2, Busch had built up a more than 1.5-second lead over Cindric while Gragson ran in third. 

On Lap 121, Ronnie Bassett Jr. wrecked off Turn 2 as it appeared an axle ripped out of his No. 90 car, which all took place in of the leader, Busch, to bring out a caution. One of Bassett’s tires also came off the car and bounced across the track.

NASCAR then red-flagged the race to clean the track of debris.

The race returned to green on Lap 126 with Busch in the lead, followed by Cindric and Gragson.

With 30 laps to go in the stage, Busch held nearly a 1-second lead over Allgaier with Reddick moving back up to third.

With seven laps remaining, Reddick got round Allgaier to claim the second position, running 1.7-seconds behind Busch.

Stage 1 

Jones emerged with the Stage 1 win when Allgaier and Reddick tangled in a battle for the lead with two of 85 laps remaining.

Reddick spun, made contact with then-leader Allgaier, allowing Jones to pass both just before the caution was displayed, which ended the stage.

Sieg finished third, Michael Annett was fourth and Gragson fifth.

Cindric started on the pole but Busch quickly moved into the lead on the restart. 

On Lap 7, Mason Diaz blew a tire and wrecked on the backstretch to bring out a caution. When the race returned to green on Lap 15, Busch continued to lead the way.

With 55 laps remaining in the first stage, Busch held a small but steady lead over Allgaier. Cole Custer ran third, Christopher Bell fourth and Cindric fifth.

On Lap 37, a multi-car wreck erupted in Turn 3 which caught up race contenders Erik Jones, Bell, Custer and Joey Logano. 

The race returned to green on Lap 48 with Busch in the lead, followed by Allgaier and Cindric.

Nemechek tried to pit with a flat tire with couldn’t get to pit road, tagging a lapped car and eventually spun out in Turn 2 on Lap 50 to bring out a caution. The race returned to green on Lap 56.

On Lap 60, Allgaier got under Busch in Turn 1 and came away in Turn 2 with the lead for the first time in the race.

After 65 laps, Allgaier maintained a small lead over Busch as Haley moved up to third.

A caution for debris in Turn 2 was displayed on Lap 72. A handful of lead-lap cars elected to pit but Allgaier remained on the track and continued to lead when the race went green again on Lap 78.

As Reddick attempted a pass for the lead on Lap 83, he made contact with Allgaier and spun off Turn 4 to bring out a caution, which ended the stage.

Reddick had to start the race from the rear of the field and had to make a pass-through penalty on pit road after the start of the race after his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection four times.

Reddick’s team has also been penalized 10 driver and owner points and had his car chief ejected from the race.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	2	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	300		19
2	98	Chase Briscoe	Ford	300	0.655
3	23	John Hunter Nemechek	Chevrolet	300	1.368
4	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	300	1.765
5	22	Austin Cindric	Ford	300	1.923	1
6	08	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	300	7.216
7	61	Timmy Hill	Toyota	299	1 lap
8	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	298	2 laps	131
9	1	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	298	2 laps	1
10	4	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	298	2 laps
11	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota	298	2 laps	6
12	86	Brandon Brown	Chevrolet	297	3 laps
13	28	Shane Lee	Toyota	297	3 laps
14	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	297	3 laps
15	07	Ray Black Jr.	Chevrolet	297	3 laps
16	93	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	297	3 laps
17	9	Noah Gragson	Chevrolet	296	4 laps	5
18	5	Matt Mills	Toyota	296	4 laps
19	01	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	292	8 laps
20	35	Joey Gase	Toyota	292	8 laps
21	78	Vinnie Miller	Toyota	292	8 laps
22	00	Cole Custer	Ford	291	9 laps
23	99	CJ Mclaughlin	Toyota	275	25 laps
24	52	David Starr	Chevrolet	273	27 laps
25	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	263	37 laps
26	15	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	244	56 laps
27	74	Tyler Matthews	Chevrolet	210	90 laps
28	0	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	186	114 laps
29	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	171	129 laps	137
30	36	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	154	146 laps
31	13	Tommy Joe Martins	Toyota	131	169 laps
32	8	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	125	175 laps
33	90	Ronnie Bassett Jr.	Chevrolet	118	182 laps
34	11	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	79	221 laps
35	17	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	43	257 laps
36	12	Joey Logano	Ford	37	263 laps
37	81	Erik Jones	Toyota	36	264 laps
38	68	Mason Diaz	Chevrolet	3	297 laps