Tyler Reddick raises the trophy after winning Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He also secured the season points championship in the finale.HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Tyler Reddick opened Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s first season in retirement with a victory and closed it with a NASCAR championship.
Reddick won the Xfinity Series finale Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn the second-tier circuit's season title. Reddick, 22, was perhaps a long shot behind Christopher Bell and Cole Custer, but with team owner Earnhardt - who retired from racing last November - watching from his pit box, he drove away from the contenders and bookended his rookie season with two massive trips to victory lane.
"I just knew we had to execute. I thought we had a chance if we just made it to Homestead - it rewards my aggression," Reddick said. "We hit the wall a lot, but the car kept in one piece, enough for me to get to the end. It was an up-and-down year. We did everything we had to do in the playoffs, and we wound up with the championship.
"We can hang our hats on that, and people will say others were more consistent. We got it when it counted."
Reddick won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, beating JRM teammate Elliott Sadler to the line in the closest finish in NASCAR history. His next win was in the final race, when everything was on the line.
It was Reddick's final race for JR Motorsports, which won its second consecutive Xfinity Series championship and third in five years. Reddick is moving to Richard Childress Racing next season and will race against JRM.
But he got one final party with his team, albeit without the massive championship flag. That got caught under his Chevrolet Camaro's tires as Reddick waved it out his window during celebratory burnouts, and he was left with the tattered, burnt remains.
"I'm really sad my flag didn't last very long. I already ripped it apart," he said. "But I was determined to get to fourth gear and burn this thing down. I picked a really good time to get my life together and win a race."
Earnhardt marveled at how Reddick commanded the top lane of the track. Reddick was able to make the No. 9 car stick along the outside wall when other drivers could not and didn't falter even when his car bounced off the concrete several times.
"Tyler had the speed and the nerve to run the laps he needed to keep the lead," Earnhardt said. "I'm telling you, to run on that fence like he did at the end of that race, it takes some precision. He did such an amazing job doing that. He earned the victory. He earned the championship."
Custer won the pole position and the first two stages of the race, but his hopes were dashed by questionable pit strategy that cost him the lead, the victory and the title. The Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford driver finished second behind Reddick in the race and the points standings.
Daniel Hemric, the other driver eligible for the title, finished fourth in the race and third in the standings.
Bell briefly challenged but was passed by Reddick and Custer in the final stage. A late flat tire dropped Bell to an 11th-place finish, and he wound up fourth in the championship field after winning a series-high seven races this season, the most for an Xfinity regular since Earnhardt won seven times in 1998.
The Xfinity Series is where NASCAR's future stars are groomed, and the championship field Saturday represented all three manufacturers, four different teams and four drivers in their 20s.
It was the final event for Sadler, 43, who is calling it a career after 23 seasons.