Relief For Reddick, Bowman As Both Retain Playoff Berths

Alex Bowman crashed out Saturday night at Daytona Int'l Speedway, but still squeaked into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. (Scotte Sprinkle/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – While neither driver could ultimately dictate their fate to get into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in Saturday’s regular season finale at Daytona Int’l Speedway, both Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick lived to see another day.

After both crashed at two separate points in the night, good fortune rolled their way by the end of the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Bowman and Reddick entered the night as the only two drivers above the cut line not guaranteed spots. However, after experiencing the highs and lows of cut-line pressure, both survived the chaos to make the playoff field.

Reddick was the first to lock his spot into the field, even after his lap-19 wreck from what he viewed as a self-made error.

“It was a really awful mistake to make so early in the race. It was really disappointing, for the experience I have, to find myself in that position,” said Reddick. “As a driver, you never want to make a mistake like that so early. We got some breaks tonight and that’s what ultimately got us into the postseason. I hate that it came to that, but at least we made it.”

The 28-year-old was running on the bottom lane of a three-wide lead pack in 14th place during stage one. Unassisted, he drifted up the track into Todd Gililland, who was running the middle lane.

Contact between the two led to Reddick crashing nose-first into the inside wall, causing heavy front end damage to the No. 45 Toyota.

To make the playoffs, all Reddick had to do was stay in striking range, but not get passed by Bowman in points in case there was a new winner. Between the two, whoever was 16th in points with a new winner would’ve been eliminated from postseason contention.

With the damage coming early in stage one, the 29-point gap Reddick had over Bowman shrunk as he rode around at the rear of the field with a wounded car.

However, luck bounced his way, as he was bailed out by Bowman’s involvement in a 12-car wreck which ended the No. 48 team’s night. Due to his points advantage over Bowman, Reddick was able to lock into the title field, with no further threat by Bowman in the standings due to him not finishing the race.

“We’re just going to have to find out in the playoffs if we can contend for a championship. The speed has been there at times,” said Reddick after clinching a spot following weeks of uncertainty. “We just haven't executed and capitalized. And basically, how tonight went encapsulates what this year has been like for us.

“Just time and time again, we are not capitalizing and not taking advantage of strong Toyota Camrys. We're going to have to clean it up, and we’re going to have to be forced to do that in the middle of the playoffs.”

Tyler Reddick limps down pit road with damage at Daytona Int'l Speedway. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Although Reddick didn’t want to lock himself into the playoffs in the fashion he did, he will get a chance to back up his Championship 4 appearance from a year ago. This is his fifth straight playoff appearance dating back to 2021, and third in his three seasons at 23XI Racing.

“We need to take it one race at a time. We’ve got to put a race together before we can think about what lies ahead,” he said. “We’ve got work to do, I think we’re all capable of a deep run. But the year has flown by and we’re still sitting here with no win. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

After being caught in the lap-27 ‘Big One’ Bowman’s playoff fate hung in the balance of if there was a new winner or not.

During stage one, he was forced to retire from the race early due to the crash damage, meaning his option to pass Tyler Reddick to lock into the playoffs vanished and someone like Ryan Blaney winning was his only saving grace.

Bowman had a car capable of contending after starting second, but falling back to 13th place with nine laps to go in stage one came back to bite him. Due to running mid-pack, he had nowhere to go when the big crash ensued.

“Being in front of [the Big One] is really about all I could do, unfortunately. From where we were, there just really wasn’t any way to get around it. All of the hits just sort of compounded too much [damage] to be able to fix it,” said Bowman. “I hate it, we’ve done a lot of good things lately. Tonight was stressful to watch, but it all worked out on that last lap for Blaney and saved us in the process.

“If somebody [new had won], they deserved it. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t won yet this year. We’ve been so strong, especially lately,” he added. “I would say from Michigan [back in June] on, it’s been something fun to be a part of. Tonight just didn’t work out … but we’ll regroup for the playoffs.”

The Tucson, Ariz., native had the help of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates running up front to give him a chance at a repeat winner. But with Blaney’s late charge, that’s what truly saved his chances.

Bowman clinched his seventh playoff appearance in nine years. This is his second since recovering from a back injury from a sprint car crash in 2023.

Now both Reddick and Bowman will aim to make a strong first race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the playoff opener. Reddick has six top 10s at Darlington and was fourth in May after leading 42 laps. Bowman has four top 10s at the track, with a best finish of eighth in 2024.

Both drivers enter next week below the cut line to advance to the Round of 12, with Reddick one point back and Bowman five below.

Coverage of the 76th Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington is slated for Sunday, Aug. 31 on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.