DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Reddick crashed early in NASCAR's regular-season finale Saturday night and still clinched a spot in the playoffs.

How?

Just nine laps later, Alex Bowman wrecked at Daytona International Speedway and, with Bowman out of the race, it automatically locked Reddick into the 16-driver field.

Reddick and Bowman both started the race trying to claim the final two spots in the playoffs. Reddick, last year's regular-season champion, held a 29-point cushion over Bowman. But when he wrecked 18 laps into the race, he suddenly became in danger of missing out on racing for the championship just nine months after he made it to the title-deciding finale.

His worries went away on Lap 27 when Bowman was collected in a multi-car crash that ended the Hendrick Motorsports dr

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