NASCAR Xfinity Series: Tyler Reddick wins 2018 championship
By Asher Fair
Tyler Reddick clinched the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship by winning the season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 300, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric and JR Motorsports’ Tyler Reddick entered the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 race, the Ford EcoBoost 300, at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a chance to win this year’s championship.
Reddick, who many people deemed the underdog to secure this season’s championship, ended up being the driver to win it.
The 22-year-old Corning, California native led 44 laps of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida en route to winning the race, which allowed him to secure this year’s championship in what is his rookie season, thus making him this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award winner as well.
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Reddick entered the 2018 season with one career Xfinity Series victory to his name, as he won last season’s race at Kentucky Speedway driving the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet as a part-time driver.
Reddick opened up the 2018 season by winning the race at Daytona International Speedway in his first race behind the wheel of the #9 Chevrolet, but he had not won a race since. However, despite the fact that his regular season was far from consistent, he still managed to advance from the round of 12 to the round of 8 and then from the round of 8 to the Championship 4 based on his point total to put himself in a position to win the championship in the season finale.
In the seven playoff races, Reddick recorded six top nine finishes, three top five finishes and a lowest finish of 14th place in the race at Dover International Speedway. His average finish in these races was 6.29 whereas his average finish throughout the entire 33-race season was 12.88 and his average finish in the 26-race regular season was 14.65.
Custer, Hemric and Bell ended up finishing the season in second, third and fourth place in the championship standings, respectively. Custer finished the season finale in second while Hemric finished in fourth and Bell finished in 11th. Throughout the course of the season, Custer won one race while Hemric did not win any. Bell, meanwhile, won seven.
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The Daytona 300 is scheduled to get the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series underway from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, February 16, 2019, so be sure to tune in.