Tyler Reddick’s unprecedented maneuver during the final lap of the race, where he overtook Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney, was an impressive one. But recently, NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty pointed out that it wasn’t solely Reddick’s talent that clinched the victory on Sunday; a succession of errors by other drivers also set the stage for his triumph.
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Petty noted that although the track delivered and the race entertained with numerous lead changes, it was the ‘stupid and bad decisions’ by the drivers that ultimately cleared the path for Reddick’s win.
He explained, “We go to that last restart Denny Hamlin takes control of the race… he led with a couple of laps to go. Then the last lap the #12 car Ryan Blaney, gets by; Ryan Blaney leads…”
“It’s Tyler Reddick! He’s coming he run five or 6 times faster that last lap passed him on the outside… What was the #12 car thinking block block block that’s what I’m talking about stupid move,” he continued.
According to Petty, Blaney should have ideally tried to block Reddick instead of allowing him an unchallenged pass on the final lap. He also discussed Kyle Larson’s involvement with Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney in the last stages of the race.
Petty criticized Larson’s decision to sandwich himself between Dillon and Blaney’s car with just 13 laps remaining, a move that triggered a caution. He labeled the maneuver as a poor decision by the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Previewing the Xfinity 500 race at Martinsville Speedway
Ryan Blaney heads to Martinsville Speedway as a strong favorite, boasting an impressive average finish of 8.8 from 17 career starts on this track. He secured nine top-5s and eleven top-10s on the track, reigning as the defending champion of last year’s Xfinity 500, which he clinched after starting from P11.
Hamlin, another short-track competitor, enters the fray with an average finish of 10.2 at Martinsville. With five victories out of 37 starts on this track, Hamlin is a seasoned contender and finished third in last year’s race after starting fourth, positioning him as a likely candidate to join the championship 4.
Chase Elliott and William Byron are also the drivers to watch, with Elliott having an average finish of 12.7 and one win, and Byron clocking an average finish of 16.2 across nine races, including a win. Christopher Bell and Larson, both with similar track averages of 16.2 and 16.7 respectively, round out the list of drivers with a shot at victory.
