The Straight Talk Wireless 400 took the Green Flag this past Sunday on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, located in Homestead, Florida. With an exciting 400-mile race ahead of 38 drivers and with only one driver locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, drivers were hungry at the drop of the Green Flag. The 21-year-old surface proved to be a challenge for everyone, but the best of the best showed out for 267 laps. Here’s a quick recap of the 400-mile thriller.
The race began with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick on the pole, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson on the outside. Larson took the high line coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 1, but Reddick denied this pass, blocking his attempt. Going into Turn 3, Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley went high (the top of the track), thought he was clear and got into JTG Daugherty’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., spinning his #7 Chili’s Chevrolet Camaro.
On the Lap 7 restart, Larson, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Reddick utilized every grove of the racetrack, battling for first place. Reddick proved to be the strongest of the three, with Bell’s teammate, Martin Truex Jr. running in fifth and Reddick’s 23XI teammate, Bubba Wallace had strong Toyotas. JGR driver and 23XI co-owner, Denny Hamlin almost got taken out by Wallace’s #23 McDonald’s Camry in Turn 2, when Wallace almost briefly lost control of his vehicle in the middle grove of the track. This proved that the track would challenge drivers all afternoon.
While Reddick proved to be tough competition, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott charged to the lead before the halfway point of Stage 1. Elliott had one win up until this point and knew that it was go time, especially if he wanted that automatic berth into the Championship 4. Not long after, the Yellow Flag flew due to Elliott’s teammate, Kyle Larson, blowing a tire on Lap 49. Larson regressed back to 35th and had a lot of work to do from there.
Stage 1 ended with the 23XI teammates of Tyler Reddick and Bubbba Wallace finishing 1-2, respectively. Elliott wound up 3rd, followed by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, who currently leads the Rookie of the Year Standings with less than three races left in the season. The race restarted on Lap 54, with Wallace and Elliott on the front row, allowing Wallace to prevail, prior to Elliott reclaiming the lead once again.
Drivers were all up against the wall throughout the day, using every inch of the race track up. This proved to work for defending Champion, Ryan Blaney, as he battled Elliott for the lead during Stage 2. Denny Hamlin made his was up front, as Blaney regressed, now being Elliott’s toughest competitor. Elliott utilized the outside of the track, utilizing the grip up top. Hamlin came out on top, winning Stage 2, followed by Elliott, Bell, Reddick and Blaney, respectively.
The final stage began with Blaney and Elliott battling for the lead, while Larson charged his way to the front. Larson would not be denied, with Homestead-Miami Speedway being a track he’s had success at, most recently in 2022 where he won, despite being eliminated from Championship contention. While Larson had a lot of momentum with 13-laps-to-go, he drove over his head going into Turn 3, attempting to squeeze between the lapped car of Austin Dillon and Blaney, who was leading the race, spinning himself out in the process. This prompted NASCAR to throw out the yellow flag, as Larson spun into the Turn 3 and 4 grass.
During the caution, most of the field pitted, while Tyler Reddick played the strategy game of staying out the pits a few laps before the caution came out. This allowed Reddick to restart up front, but was passed by Hamlin and Blaney after the final restart. The Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers battled each other for seven laps straight, before Blaney failed to cover the top lane going into Turn 3, allowing Reddick to utilize it to his advantage and win the Straight Talk Wireless 400. This locked Reddick into the Championship 4 and ended with Michael Jordan and Reddick’s pit crew to run out on the track and celebrate. Jordan was speechless and couldn’t believe Reddick made a clutch move on the last week.
Blaney and Hamlin were left disappointed leaving Miami and understand the task at hand heading into Martinsville Speedway for the Semi-Final race of the season. They need to win if they want to comfortably advance and so do Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and more than likely, Christopher Bell, who’s +23 above the cutline going into the Virginia short track. Sunday’s Xfinity 500 will take place at 2:00PM EST. Be sure to tune in on NBC this weekend to catch the most exciting race of the season!
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
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