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Daniel Suarez had a Sunday to remember forever, taking the checkered flag on the Sonoma road course for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. And then there’s Tyler Reddick, who may long remember it as the day that crushed his hopes for a second consecutive trip to the playoffs.

Daniel Suarez still has work to do after winning at Sonoma

Daniel Suarez celebrated by cracking open a small pinata after his maiden NASCAR Cup Series victory, but he has work remaining in order to score the big enchilada: a berth in the playoffs.

Suarez was masterful in the No. 99 Chevy as he led 47 of the final 50 laps at Sonoma and held off a fleet of Fords led by Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell. It qualified as payback for Talladega and Charlotte, where he led chunks of the races only to surrender significant points by bowing out before the finish.

Those missed opportunities rate as less crucial now that he has become the 12th driver to win this season. Suarez jumped three spots in the point standings to 17th place. However, he is still only four points ahead of Austin Cindric and 11 up on Kurt Busch among drivers with a single victory. That’s perilous should five other drivers make it to Victory Lane in the final 10 races of the regular season.

Keep in mind, too, that Suarez was not exactly riding momentum entering Sonoma. He placed 33rd at Kansas, 25th at Charlotte as the result of a crash, and 23rd at World Wide Technology Raceway. Sonoma was no fluke, but he needs consistency.

That means adding to his five top-10 performances to build playoff security. Fortunately for him, Trackhouse Racing has shown amazing chops this season, and the team can be counted on to find him additional speed and grip down the homestretch of the season.

Rank Driver Points Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts Top5 Top10
1 Chase Elliott 536 1 3 8 3 10
2 Ross Chastain 520 2 3 13 7 10
3 Kyle Busch 513 1 1 6 6 11
4 Ryan Blaney 511 0 4 4 5 8
5 Joey Logano 506 2 2 12 5 7
6 Martin Truex Jr. 481 0 3 3 2 7
7 Kyle Larson 476 1 2 7 6 8
8 William Byron 466 2 3 13 4 5
9 Alex Bowman 460 1 1 6 3 9
10 Christopher Bell 444 0 0 0 4 9
11 Aric Almirola 423 0 0 0 2 5
12 Kevin Harvick 416 0 0 0 4 8
13 Chase Briscoe 386 1 1 6 3 4
14 Tyler Reddick 381 0 2 2 4 6
15 Austin Dillon 376 0 0 0 3 6
16 Erik Jones 368 0 0 0 1 5

Tyler Reddick had the sort of day he could not afford

Tyler Reddick looks on during practice for the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on April 30, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. | Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Driver Tyler Reddick looks on during practice for the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on April 30, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. | Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Tyler Reddick has a lot to think about heading into next weekend’s bye on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule before action resumes on June 26 at Nashville Superspeedway.  Reddick arrived at Sonoma 12th in the standings and two points above the cut line while in pursuit of his first Cup Series victory. He left the California road course 14th in the standings and 42 points below the cut line.

That’s what happens to a driver when Daniel Suarez breaks into the list of 2022 season winners in the same race that you finish in 35th place and 13 laps down.

Reddick took a speeding penalty entering the pits on Lap 52. It was a footnote at the time because that was the same juncture at which race leader Chase Elliott took a penalty when his team had trouble mounting the left-rear tire. But that was just the start of Reddick’s misery.

Reddick went spinning on Turn 10 of Lap 64 and headed directly to pit row, where the team determined he needed to go to the garage to replace a broken brake rotor.

If you think your last brake job was expensive, try being the 26-year-old from Corning, California. A day that saw him start fifth ended with Reddick in35th place. Conservatively, he left 20 points on the track.

You can be sure he’ll be thinking about that until Nashville.

Rank Driver Points Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts Top5 Top10
17 Daniel Suarez 366 1 2 7 3 5
18 Austin Cindric 362 1 1 6 2 3
19 Kurt Busch 355 1 2 7 4 6
20 Michael McDowell 330 0 0 0 1 6
21 Denny Hamlin 325 2 2 12 3 3
22 Chris Buescher 318 0 0 0 1 4
23 Justin Haley 310 0 0 0 1 1
24 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 288 0 0 0 1 5
25 Bubba Wallace 284 0 1 1 1 2
26 Ty Dillon 270 0 0 0 0 1
27 Cole Custer 262 0 0 0 0 0

Tyler Reddick will be sweating out the remainder of the season

Unless he triumphs in at least one of the final 10 races in the regular season, 2022 might play out a lot like 2021. A year ago, Tyler Reddick squeaked into the playoffs as the last non-winner.

He ended the regular season with 13 top-10 results and only one DNF but still needed to finish strong. He did so with fifth place in the Daytona summer race, keeping Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon from claiming the final playoff spot.

Reddick has scored just six top-10 finishes so far in 2022, and his win in an Xfinity Series race does nothing for him in the Cup Series. It will be up to Reddick to find a way to win and also roll up points in consistent fashion.

It figures to be an exhausting exercise at a time when at least a dozen other drivers are all but certain that they’ve punched their playoff tickets.

Rank Driver Points Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts Top5 Top10
28 Harrison Burton 241 0 0 0 0 0
29 Todd Gilliland 239 0 0 0 0 0
30 Brad Keselowski 227 0 0 -10 0 2
31 Corey LaJoie 185 0 0 0 1 1
32 Cody Ware 139 0 0 0 0 0
33 Bj Mcleod 104 0 0 0 0 0
34 David Ragan 61 0 0 0 0 1
35 Greg Biffle 24 0 0 0 0 0
36 Joey Hand 19 0 0 0 0 0
37 Jacques Villeneuve 15 0 0 0 0 0
38 Boris Said 11 0 0 0 0 0

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John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.