On NASCAR’s Contained in the Race podcast with Steve Letarte and Kyle Petty, they broke down the current race at Michigan Worldwide Speedway, which featured a record-number of cautions.
A kind of cautions concerned Tyler Reddick, whose unbelievable high 15 streak got here to an abrupt finish in a restart pileup. It was the 23XI Racing driver’s first DNF of the 2026 season.
Reddick held a 129-point lead earlier than the Coca-Cola 600, and it regarded as if nobody would catch the No. 45 earlier than the top of the common season. And but, his boss Denny Hamlin has managed to slice away at that once-mighty margin in three quick weeks.
It fell from 129 to 122 factors at Charlotte, so not a lot change there, however at Nashville, a high ten end wasn’t sufficient for Reddick as Hamlin claimed victory, bringing the hole down to only 97 factors.
At Michigan, Reddick was as soon as once more quick, however a restart pileup ended his day early. Coincidentally, Hamlin spun in the identical wreck, and Austin Dillon ended up nailing Reddick’s automobile (which had already impacted a wall) whereas attempting to keep away from Hamlin, so there was a little bit of luck concerned there.
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Picture by: Brett Farmer / Getty Photographs
However there was no luck in Hamlin happening to win the race by over eleven seconds, incomes back-to-back wins as NASCAR heads to certainly one of his strongest tracks, Pocono.
And so, Petty believes that Hamlin will overtake Reddick for the championship lead earlier than the top of Race #26 and the Chase reset.
“The place he is at proper now, I say sure. somebody goes to must throw chilly water on him to get him to again it down, as a result of they’re white scorching proper now,” declared Petty.
“The whole lot they do is correct. I might have by no means thought anyone could be this near Reddick, even within the final race. When he walked off with the common season trophy, I did not assume anyone was going to be inside 40 or 50 factors of him, and right here Denny is.”
Petty went on to say that he is ‘completely stunned’ by how shortly Hamlin has eaten into Reddick’s lead. And now that the No. 11 has each the pace and momentum, it is going to be arduous to cease them now.
Wanting forward
Nevertheless, one level in Reddick’s favor needs to be the upcoming schedule, the place he can definitely cease the bleeding. A avenue course occasion in San Diego adopted by a highway course race at Sonoma might be an incredible alternative for Reddick to catch his breath.
Reddick is a confirmed winner on highway programs, and is the one driver prior to now seven highway/avenue course occasions to disclaim Shane van Gisbergen a checkered flag. On the different finish of the spectrum, Hamlin typically struggles on these circuits, and has admitted as a lot.
As soon as we get by Sonoma, there might be eight races left within the common season, together with two wildcard drafting tracks the place something can occur.
Of the remaining six, North Wilkesboro is a factors race for the primary time in 30 years, however Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell was a winner there, and Hamlin was second the yr prior.
Iowa continues to be pretty new to the schedule, and Hamlin hasn’t had a great end there but. Indianapolis is a spot the place he has run robust, but it surely’s the one crown jewel Hamlin has but to win. Chicagoland needs to be a great race for all Toyota drivers, however Hamlin’s strongest tracks forward are 100% Richmond and New Hampshire, which occur to be two of the ultimate three races earlier than the Chase begins.
So, can he overtake Reddick? Completely. However there are apparent roadblocks forward that he should navigate as Reddick should keep away from additional misfortune. With the way in which the schedule comes collectively, it may nonetheless go right down to the wire, with Daytona in the end deciding who enters the Chase with a 25-point buffer by way of the brand new format.
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