Tyler Reddick was well within the striking distance to bump his way into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Being only 2 points below the cutline and knowing that the driver he was chasing, Brad Keselowski, struggled on these types of tracks, so long as no one below Reddick in the standings won Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 ended up celebrating in victory lane, then a march to the third round would ensue.

That’s exactly what happened.

Reddick qualified on the pole. Keselowski started 19th. Reddick stayed out and won the first stage taking 10 points with him in the process. Keselowski was 18th.

Then, in the second stage, Reddick would come from behind to finish fourth giving him 7 more stage points. Keselowski was 20th.

That’s 17 stage points to none for Keselowski which gave Reddick a 15 point advantage over Keselowski for the 8th and final spot to the Round of 8 entering the final stage. At this point, all he had to do is maintain. That’s what he’d do.

Reddick would bring his No. 45 Toyota home in sixth for his 14th top 10 finish of the season advancing him to the next round. It was his 10th career playoff top 10 finish in his 26th playoff race for the 27-year-old driver which now is playing with house money for his 23XI Racing team.

Reddick has 2 wins on the season and led almost 500 laps. Can he now make a run at the Championship 4?

The tracks in the next round setup nicely for him. Vegas and Homestead are strong tracks for him.