Just two months after burying the hatchet with NASCAR following the antitrust lawsuit, owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have struck gold. Tyler Reddick captured the Daytona 500, snapping his 38-race winless streak and handing Jordan the kind of birthday gift money simply cannot buy.
Post-race, Jordan stepped into Victory Lane and hoisted the Harley J. Earl Trophy alongside Reddick. He tipped his cap to all four drivers, offering a special nod to Riley Herbst, who finished eighth. Jordanfelt Herbst’s contribution might fly under the radar, but fully understood its value.
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Hamlin, who finished 31st while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was still delighted to see the team he co-owns with Jordan take the win. After the race, he opened up about what the victory meant to Jordan in particular.
Speaking about embracing Jordan and delivering the win, Hamlin said, “Yeah, it’s special. This is why we do it, right? And we had great talks in the offseason about, we have the privilege of fulfilling his competitive fire.”
“And we should take that responsibility very seriously. Look at the joy he had at Talladega a couple years ago,” Hamlin added. “There’s not much in life that can get him that joy, but us on the racetrack, winning races, can do that, and you saw it here at the end of this race.”
Had Hamlin won the race himself, he might have been over the moon, but a late crash swept him and teammate Christopher Bell into the wreckage. Even so, he stood in Victory Lane with a smile, watching his driver seal the deal. It was a big win for their OEM as well, given Reddick’s win marked the first Daytona 500 win for Toyota since Hamlin went back-to-back in 2019 and 2020.
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Jordan, soaking in the moment, said, “We had four guys that were really fighting that were helping each other else and you never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive. I thought Riley did an unbelievable job by pushing at the end. He doesn’t get enough credit, and he won’t get enough credit, but we feel the love. We understand exactly what he did.”
“I’m ecstatic, I don’t know what to say, it feels like I won a championship, but until I get my ring, I won’t even know,” headded.
What led Reddick to the victory lane?
With fewer than 10 laps left, a crash involving the Toyotas of Bell and Hamlin shuffled the deck. Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar from Spire Motorsports controlled the field at the start of the last lap before the next pileup broke loose when Hocevar and Erik Jones spun, collecting McDowell low, while Reddick brushed the No. 43 but kept it pointed straight.
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That opened the door for Chase Elliott, who surged ahead with a shove from Zane Smith, clearing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the middle lane to take control. Reddick then caught a push from Herbst, swung high, and powered past Smith off Turn 4 to drive almost alongside Elliott.
But Herbst’s gamble came at a cost. When he saw a third lane forming with Brad Keselowski entering the picture with the top lane from the right of Elliott, he moved his car to go ahead of Keselowski and probably block him. But a charging Brad Keselowski beat him to the outside, the two tangled, and the field scattered. Meanwhile, Reddick slipped through the chaos and crossed the line, leaving the rest in the smoke.
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