Tyler Reddick finally emerged with his first NASCAR Cup Series victory by holding off Chase Elliott to capture the Kwik Trip 250 on Sunday afternoon at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
It was Reddick’s 92nd career Cup Series start. The 26-year-old has been a runner-up five times before breaking through.
“What better place than Road America?” Reddick said. “I love the fans. I love this racetrack.”
He became NASCAR’s fifth first-time winner this season, which is at the halfway mark. He’s the 13th different winner in the Cup Series this season.
Elliott, the race’s defending champion, was a factor throughout the race around the 4.048-mile circuit that involves 14 turns.
“I know he’s been super close to that first win, and I’ve been down that road and it can be a rocky one,” Elliott said. “I’m happy for those guys. They deserve it.”
Kyle Larson placed third, followed by Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez rounding out the top five.
On the crucial final pit sequence, Elliott got off pit road in front of Reddick. But Reddick went in front on the 47th lap.
“I definitely knew (Elliott) was fast, but we could stay with him on the long run,” Reddick said. “That told me if we cycled through that last pit sequence, we’d be close or get around him, and we’d have a great shot. Didn’t quite get around him. We were within reach.”
Reddick extended his margin several times, but Elliott regrouped to apply pressure. Reddick, who began in fourth place, ended up with a winning margin of 3.304 seconds.
Larson sensed something special was happening ahead of him.
“I felt honestly pretty good, but they must have just had better grip,” he said.
During a stretch with slightly more than a dozen laps to go, the lead changed several times. Denny Hamlin pitted from the lead. By that point, there had been six different race leaders.
Elliott was on the pole after winning last weekend at Nashville. He’s also strong on road courses, notching his first career Cup Series win at Watkins Glen and capturing seven of the last 16 races on road courses in the Cup Series.
Kyle Busch, who was third a year ago on this course, was 29th.
Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney were stage winners. Blaney ended up with those extra points based on a decision not to take a pit stop.
Bubba Wallace had difficulty gaining on the field. He spun out on the first turn shortly after the race’s midway point, but drove out of the sand. He later appeared to run out of fuel as he plummeted to third-to-last.
This was the second year in a row this track served as a Cup Series venue and the third time ever.