Reddick wins in Phoenix as NASCAR
Cup Series championship tightens after miserable day for Larson
[October 19, 2026]
By DAVID BRANDT
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tyler Reddick had a late surge on Sunday to
earn his sixth win of the season in a NASCAR playoff race at Phoenix
Raceway, rising up the Cup Series standings to give himself a shot
at the championship.
He's not the only one who benefited from Kyle Larson's very, very
bad day.
Reddick, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe were among the drivers
who are leaving the desert in much better position to win a title
than when they a rrived. Reddick's No. 45 Toyota overtook Briscoe
with 17 laps remaining and held on for the win, shaking up NASCAR's
postseason with three races remaining.
“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. “Something about
today... I had a really good feeling.”
Larson — who started Sunday with a 49-point lead in the Cup Series
standings — is now just five points ahead of Christopher Bell
heading into Talladega next week. Briscoe is in third, 24 points
back, while Denny Hamlin (31), Ryan Blaney (40), Joey Logano (44)
and Reddick (56) are still in the hunt.
“It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure,” Bell said. “We’re
right there in it. Really proud of our team. 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.”
Ryan Blaney finished second on Sunday while Chase Elliott was third
and Bell fourth. Briscoe finished eighth after back-to-back wins in
Las Vegas and Charlotte and picked up more points in Phoenix.
Reddick and his 23XI team had the hottest car in the sport early in
the year, winning four of the season’s first six races, but had a
big lull over the summer. He was mostly an afterthought entering
Sunday's race, but is back in victory lane and now can dream about
even bigger accomplishments.
Bubba Wallace led 52 laps in the second half of the race, but a pit
road speeding penalty ended the 23XI driver’s chance at a win.
Larson's miserable afternoon
Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet struggled all day and then smacked the wall
late in the race after his right front tire went flat going into a
turn. His day was over and he finished 34th.
Larson had looked nearly unstoppable over the first six races of the
playoffs, but had a disappointing qualifying effort on Saturday and
started 22nd, well behind most of the other title contenders.
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Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
He wasn’t any better on Sunday — the Hendrick
Motorsports star stayed in the middle to back of the pack most of
the afternoon and fell a lap behind the field midway through the
second stage. The flat tire made things even worse.
“I was just trying to salvage anything — in the top 20 would have
been great,” Larson said. “It's a bummer, but it is what it is. It
happens.”
It was a surprising hiccup after a dominant six-race postseason run
that included two wins, two second-place finishes and an average
finish of 2.83.
Hamlin — who is still looking for his first Cup
Series championship — couldn't take full advantage of Larson's tough
day after a flat right rear tire while running fourth on lap 221.
The No. 11 Toyota was also penalized for speeding on pit road as he
struggled to control the car coming off the track. He finished 28th.
Logano wins both stages for 20 points
Logano won both the 60-lap first stage and 125-lap second stage,
picking up the maximum possible 20 points.
He took four fresh tires during a yellow-flag stop late in the first
stage before grabbing the lead from Hamlin, who took just two.
Blaney led the first 46 laps but a slow pit stop dropped him back to
eighth. He recovered to place fourth in the stage.
Logano — who has won four times in Phoenix and finished sixth on
Sunday — breezed to the second stage win, finishing well ahead of
Briscoe and Bell.
Up next
The Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama next
weekend for the eighth of 10 postseason races.
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