The last few weeks of the NASCAR Cup Series season have been rough on Tyler Reddick, with Chicagoland only making it worse. Sitting second-place in the point standings of the premier series of NASCAR isn’t terrible, but getting passed by your boss after leading the entire season can’t feel too good.
Denny Hamlin took the points lead from Reddick following the final road-course of the 2026 Cup Season at Sonoma Raceway, however, the lead was just one point and didn’t seem too drastic for the No. 45 team. With the way Hamlin was running in the summer months, it was only a matter of time before he passed Reddick.
Reddick was off to a strong start to the eero 400 as the green-flag dropped at Chicagoland. It appeared as if he had a car that could contend for the win, especially with the speed that Toyota has been bringing to the racetrack each weekend. Around 130 laps later, the trouble began for the No. 45 team.
Fluid began to spit out of Reddick’s car, later to find out a part from another car went through his radiator and broke other parts internally, NASCAR called a caution for the fluid on track. Crew members of the No. 45 team worked on the car, eventually fixing it enough to bring it back out on track, however, 30 laps down.
Reddick suffered a 36th-place finish and set him back 44 points on Hamlin. The No. 45 team once held a lead that seemed to large for anyone to catch, Hamlin has proved that wrong just passed halfway in the 2026 season.
NASCAR heads to EchoPark Speedway for the next race, catch the event onTNT Sports at 7:00pm this Sunday for the action.