Tyler Reddick waited 23 races to return the No. 45 Toyota to Victory Lane, but when the opportunity came at Phoenix Raceway, he made it count. The 23XI Racing driver used a two-tire call and a daring four-wide move to win Sunday’s Freeway Insurance 500, passing Chase Briscoe with 18 laps remaining before beating Ryan Blaney by 0.801 seconds. It was Reddick’s sixth win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, the 14th of his career and his first at the one-mile Arizona oval.

Reddick’s season began with a pace few drivers could match. He won five of the first nine races, including the first three, but the results dried up after his April 19 victory at Kansas. Phoenix finally gave the No. 45 Toyota the breakthrough it needed, though the win did not come from dominating every stage. Reddick started sixth and led only 18 of the 312 laps, saving his most important move for the closing restart.

Joey Logano swept both stages and led 84 laps. Christopher Bell led a race-high 85, while Blaney paced the field for 51 and Bubba Wallace led 52. With 18 laps to go, Reddick found a gap in a four-wide group and passed Briscoe, who had taken the lead after Wallace’s pit stop. Reddick’s two-tire strategy gave him track position, and he made it count. The finish capped a race featuring 21 lead changes among 10 drivers and six cautions for 43 laps.

Blaney, who started from the pole, finished second, while Chase Elliott took third after starting 16th. Bell finished fourth, and Corey Heim completed the top five after starting 36th. Logano finished sixth despite winning both stages, a reminder that stage points do not always translate into a strong result over 312 laps.

The championship standings have also shifted significantly. Kyle Larson had a shaky weekend from the start: he started 22nd, suffered a tire failure, and finished P34, adding just three points to his Chase bid.  He remained six points ahead of Bell, with Briscoe 24 points behind, Denny Hamlin 31 back, and Blaney 40 behind. Reddick’s win kept Larson in front, but brought more drivers within reach with three races remaining.

Reddick leaves Phoenix with a win that changes the tone of his season and keeps 23XI Racing in the Chase conversation as it heads to Talladega. His early-season form showed what the No. 45 team could do; Sunday showed it could still find a way through when the race came down to one decisive restart.

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