Tyler Reddick Wins Fuel Mileage Race at Michigan

Tyler Reddick wins at Michigan
Logan Riely/Getty Images

"Three" was the magic number in Saturday's LTI Printing 250 at Michigan International Speedway, and that was just fine with Tyler Reddick.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series leader—one of the so-called "Big Three" in the series this year—saved enough fuel over the closing 44-lap green-flag run to win for the third time this season, matching fellow Big Three members Christopher Bell and Cole Custer for most so far this year.

After Custer and Bell pitted for fuel from the top two positions with 10 and 11 laps left, respectively, Reddick inherited the lead on Lap 115 of 125 with a lead of just over three seconds over Michael Annett. Ultimately, Reddick finished 1.515 seconds ahead of Noah Gragson, who passed Annett for the runner-up spot on the final lap.

Annett held third, followed by pole winner Paul Menard and Justin Allgaier.

The victory was Reddick's first at Michigan and the sixth of his career, accomplished with three different organizations (Chip Ganassi Racing, JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing, his current ride. Reddick overcame a Lap 33 snafu on pit road where he slid through his pit stall and dropped to 10th for a restart on Lap 38.

Reddick came to pit road for the final time on lap 78 and got 47 laps out of his last tank of fuel.

Tyler Reddick takes the checkered flag at Michigan
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

"I just didn't want to burn a lot of fuel there," the driver of the No. 2 RCR Chevrolet said of the closing run. "Our Chevrolet was really good, but I made some mistakes on pit road, and we didn't get the track position until the end there.

"A great team effort. I didn't do the thing I needed to do on the race track but, man, that was a great car and we put ourselves in position to win."

The victory was Reddick's third in the last five races.

"All the guys at Richard Childress Racing just make an outstanding effort throughout the week," Reddick said. "Their efforts back at the shop and their hours spent from morning to afternoon every single day is what's paying off in getting us back to Victory Lane so often this year."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Miscommunication between crew chief and driver cost both Bell and Custer chances to win the race. Under caution on Lap 78, after Chase Briscoe's spin a lap earlier, Bell misunderstood instructions to pit and stayed on the track. Custer was told on his team radio to do whatever Bell did and also missed a chance to refuel his car.

"That was our first time using code words, and we got the code mixed up," said Bell, who had just picked up his sixth stage win of the season on Lap 60.

Custer finished 12th and Bell 13th.

"We had a really fast Mustang," Custer said ruefully. "I really wanted to win here for Ford in their back yard and everything. We got the track position and got up front, and I think we had the best car here.

"I don't know how much the 2 (Reddick) was saving there, but the strategy just didn't work out for us. That one kind of stings, but I definitely feel like we had a fast car."

Brandon Jones finished sixth, followed by Briscoe, John Hunter Nemechek, Jeb Burton and Justin Haley completed the top 10. Reddick increased his series lead to 89 points over Bell in second.

RACE RESULTS

Finish St # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Led Points Status
1 10 2 Tyler Reddick KC Motorgroup Chevrolet 125 11 55 Running
2 4 9 Noah Gragson # Switch Chevrolet 125 0 42 Running
3 7 1 Michael Annett AllState Parts and Service Group Chevrolet 125 0 39 Running
4 1 12 Paul Menard(i) Menards/Richmond Ford 125 56 0 Running
5 12 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 125 0 40 Running
6 3 19 Brandon Jones # 1st Foundation Toyota 125 0 33 Running
7 14 98 Chase Briscoe # Nutri Chomps/Blair's Farm & Fleet Ford 125 0 30 Running
8 8 23 John Hunter Nemechek Allegiant Chevrolet 125 0 41 Running
9 11 8 Jeb Burton LS Tractor Chevrolet 125 0 28 Running
10 13 11 Justin Haley # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 125 0 34 Running
11 5 22 Austin Cindric LTi Printing Ford 125 0 31 Running
12 6 0 Cole Custer Jacob Companies Ford 125 20 37 Running
13 2 20 Christopher Bell Rheem/RTP Toyota 125 36 43 Running
14 15 4 Ross Chastain(i) Contec Chevrolet 125 0 0 Running
15 17 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 125 0 22 Running
16 22 8 Gray Gaulding Two Guys and a Truck Chevrolet 125 0 21 Running
17 9 39 Ryan Sieg Night Owl Contractors Chevrolet 124 0 20 Running
18 21 99 Tommy Joe Martins Diamond Gusset Jeans/The Podgoats Toyota 124 0 19 Running
19 23 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 124 0 18 Running
20 32 1 Stephen Leicht teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 124 0 17 Running
21 20 93 Josh Bilicki Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 124 0 16 Running
22 28 42 Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports Toyota 124 0 15 Running
23 29 36 Josh Williams Starbrite Star Tron/Simcraft Chevrolet 124 0 14 Running
24 18 5 Matt Mills J.F. Electric Chevrolet 124 0 13 Running
25 35 52 David Starr Pro Waste Services Inc. Chevrolet 124 0 12 Running
26 25 86 Brandon Brown # Vero Chevrolet 124 0 11 Running
27 38 0 Garrett Smithley Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 123 0 10 Running
28 37 78 Vinnie Miller 1800Rolloff/Pit Viper Chevrolet 123 0 9 Running
29 36 35 Joey Gase Clubfoot Solutions Toyota 64 0 8 Engine
30 34 7 Ray Black II ISOKERNFrplces&ChmnysScubaLfe Chev 51 0 7 Accident
31 33 13 Timmy Hill CrashClaimsR.US Toyota 42 0 6 Vibration
32 16 89 Landon Cassill Visone RV Chevrolet 40 0 5 Vibration
33 31 17 Bayley Currey(i) RWR Chevrolet 36 2 0 Vibration
34 24 74 Kyle Weatherman TheJrnyHmPrjct/CharlieDaniels Chevrolet 29 0 3 Alternator
35 27 66 Tyler Hill(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 17 0 0 Engine
36 26 38 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet 17 0 1 Vibration
37 30 18 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Toyota 12 0 1 Accident