(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C. — Tyler Reddick’s 2023 season is on the line Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Entering the second cutoff race of the playoffs, Reddick sits ninth in points, but well within striking distance at just two points behind Brad Keselowski.
With a pressure-packed race ahead, Reddick bought himself much-needed early track position by winning Saturday’s pole for the Bank of America ROVAL 400. He churned out a time of 81.214 seconds, besting Christopher Bell among others around the 2.28-mile. 17-turn road course.
“This is what we needed to do,” Reddick said while addressing the media. “We had hoped and put a lot of effort into this, as all the playoff teams do for this race. For the most part, this is as good of an outcome as possible for the No. 45 team.”
After an up-and-down summer plagued by inconsistencies on pit road, Reddick and his 23XI Racing team picked up their momentum heading into the playoffs. The 27-year-old from Corning, California finished runner-up to Kyle Larson in the Cook Out Southern 500 before shipping off to Kansas Speedway, where the team earned its second victory of the season.
Reddick had an unfortunate day to open the Round of 12, finishing 25th at Texas Motor Speedway after an untimely caution caught him a lap down on a pit cycle. Last week at Talladega Superspeedway, Reddick was in line for a solid finish before getting caught up in a last-lap crash and finishing 16th.
Heading into the final road course race of the season, Reddick has plenty of confidence about making the semifinal round after top 10s at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen.
Tyler Reddick walks through driver introductions at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
“[Toyota wasn’t] happy with their road course results last year, and they’ve made some huge improvements this year, starting off with our victory at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the spring,” Reddick explained. “We got the speed. The team has been working great. Everyone’s efforts at TRD, and our alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing has been huge. Everyone is doing a great job right now and all the Toyota Camrys have the speed. It’s great to see. Now, we have to manage this race tomorrow. If I just stick to the simple approach, we’ll be in good shape.
“No matter how the race plays out, I go out there and try to nail every corner and lap. And if I make a mistake, try to minimize the time loss. These are the things that us and all of the other teams will be focusing on. No matter if the strategy changes, my job doesn’t.”
Reddick’s won five times in his Cup Series career — three of which came on road courses. He won his first two races last year at Road America and Indianapolis with Richard Childress Racing before making the transition to 23XI in the off-season.
If Reddick can advance, it’ll be the first time making the Round of 8. The two-time Xfinity champion made the Cup playoffs in his final two seasons with RCR but both resulted in first-round exits. Reddick, however, faces a unique situation Sunday of potentially battling for the win but also managing stage points.
“I’m going to leave that [decision] up to Billy [Scott, crew chief] and the team to figure it out,” Reddick said. “We’ve seen it before, with last year’s race. It was going to end a lot different and the playoffs would’ve been different on the points before that last caution came out. I’m going to stay in my lane and see where I can improve as a driver and leave that decision up to the team.”
Sunday’s race is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Christopher Bell is the defending winner.
