ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — There were many times this year that seemed like it was all coming together for Tyler Reddick.
At Fontana in February, Reddick led 80 laps before blowing a tire while leading. He finished 24th.
At Atlanta in March, Reddick was one of the frontrunners when he spun and caused a 12-car crash. He finished 28th.
And possibly most heartbreaking at Bristol in April, Reddick led a race-high 99 laps and was one straightaway from taking the win before being Chase Briscoe made a daring move for the victory and wrecked both drives. Reddick finished 2nd as Kyle Busch stole the win.
Add in another runner-up finish at Darlington and it seemed as if that coveted first Cup win for the former-Xfinity Series champion was never going to come.
But then at Road America on Sunday, in a somewhat opposite scenario to the events above, Reddick took the win from someone who dominated the race to ensure that Sunday was Tyler Reddick's day.
"This year has been one mistake away from greatness all year long and we finally did it today," Reddick said to the NBC crew after the race. "It feels good."
Chase Elliott picked up where he left off from last week's win at Nashville by securing the pole at Road America and leading 24 of the first 30 laps. Pit strategy prevented Elliott from winning Stage 1 and Stage 2, but he still looked like the top car in the field throughout the day.
That was, until Lap 43 when Reddick began gaining on Elliott following their last pit stop of the day. A mistake by Elliott in Turn 5 allowed Reddick to pass him on Lap 46 as the field cycled through green-flag pit stops.
Reddick took the lead on Lap 47 and never relinquished it. He quickly increased the gap between him and Elliott to over three seconds by the end of the race.
A late-race issue for Reddick's Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammate Austin Dillon threatened to cause a caution and force overtime at the four-mile track, but Dillon was quick to exit to a no-traffic area and allow the race to proceed uninterrupted.
Dillon's problem was one of just a few on-track incidents that occurred during the race. Busch spun after contact with William Byron in the race's early stages. Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski each also had issues throughout the day. Other than that, the race was fairly incident-free.
The only cautions on the day were for the stage breaks. Chase Briscoe won Stage 1 and Ryan Blaney won Stage 2.
Elliott wound up 2nd and was dejected after the race but congratulatory to Reddick.
"I'm happy for those guys, they deserve it," said Elliott to the NBC crew after the race. "I made a couple mistakes and let him get close to me to get me out of synch. I wish I could have done a better job. I think we were good enough to win."
Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, and Daniel Suárez rounded out the Top 5.
Reddick joined Austin Cindric, Briscoe, Chastain, and Suárez to become the fifth first-time winner in 2022. This is the first season since 1950 that the Cup Series has had this many first-time winners. That year, 11 drivers took their first checkered flag in the Cup Series's 2nd season in existence.
With the win, Reddick shot himself up to a four-way tie for 6th in the playoff standings. He's even with Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Briscoe, and Suárez who each have a race win and two stage wins.
There are eight races left in the regular season and 13 drivers have won so far this year. Reddick's win pushes Kevin Harvick on the outside-looking-in in regards to the playoff picture. He sits 20 points behind Christopher Bell.
Next week, NASCAR heads to Atlanta for the second time this season. The last time there, Byron won an eventful race that included 46 lead changes among 20 drivers and 11 cautions.