Tyler Reddick was truly number one in the Lone Star State’s lone road course race of 2023. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
AUSTIN, Texas – A year ago, Tyler Reddick was in position to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
Leading the race’s final restart, the Corning, Californian lost the number one spot when Ross Chastain scooted past him. From there, the finish was memorable for Chastain’s paint trading with Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger in the final corners of the final lap.
Certainly, Reddick acquitted himself nicely after the bittersweet fifth place result at COTA. Tallying three wins and managing a lame duck scenario with Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 team, the 27-year-old Corning, California native turned the page with 23XI Racing’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry.
The circumstances surrounding Reddick’s move were less than ideal, particularly with Kurt Busch’s lingering effects from a concussion sustained in a qualifying crash last July at Pocono Raceway. After all, Reddick was supposed to slot into a 23XI Racing ride in 2024, not this year.
Before Busch’s accident at Pocono, Hamlin and 23XI Racing held a press conference via Microsoft Teams to introduce Reddick as the team’s newest driver for the 2024 season. By all means, the move was a bit of a shocker considering Reddick’s successful years as a Chevrolet racer.
About a week and a half after winning at Road America, Reddick sat alongside Hamlin with a gleeful smile and sense of renewed enthusiasm. Undoubtedly, he found his long-term NASCAR Cup Series home.
Reddick’s racing prowess is matched by his mental fortitude. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
Reddick weathered and managed through a lame duck situation with Richard Childress Racing with class and a business as usual demeanor. He was not going to haul the mail and settle for less than stellar results.
Although Reddick missed the Round of 12, he still gave it his all, earning a convincing victory in last September’s Texas Motor Speedway race. About a month later, Reddick was formally named as the driver of the No. 45 ride.
Heading into the season, Reddick seemed like Toyota’s answer as the next, best young superstar stock car sensation. With Kyle Busch moving to Reddick’s old seat in 2023, the latter seemed like a great choice to represent Toyota’s NASCAR Cup Series efforts.
The season’s opening two races at Daytona and Fontana were not particularly generous to Reddick as he placed 39th and 34th due to wrecks in both races.
However, the most recent run of events seemed more like Reddick in his best form last year. Notably, he tallied a 15th at Las Vegas, third at Phoenix and fifth at Atlanta.
Heading into Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Reddick was one of the favorites given his road course prowess. Once Reddick logged the fastest time in Friday’s 50-minute practice session, it was clear that the Californian brought his road course racing skills to the emerging Toyota Racing efforts.
Posting the second quickest time in Saturday’s qualifying session, Reddick further supported any notion as a formidable contender ahead of Sunday’s race.
Fast, tenacious and scrappy seem to describe Reddick to a tee.
Reddick’s path to his fourth career Cup win was not too weird despite the prolonged Overtime session. (Photo: John Arndt | r/NASCAR)
All told, why was Reddick recruited with such dogged tenacity?
If Reddick’s 2022 performance was not convincing, perhaps his win in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA may have cemented such notions, especially as observed by his crew chief, Billy Scott, and the team’s minority partner, Denny Hamlin.
“I think it’s why they got him, right?” Scott said. “We knew what his potential was. Road courses is where he’s shown it in the last six, eight months, being pretty dominant on several occasions. We know he’s got that ability everywhere. The last two weeks show that.”
Hamlin took it a step further, explaining why he was so gung ho to sign Reddick before any rival car owner considered such a notion.
“It’s why I went after him as early as I did,” he said. “I wanted to get the jump on all the other teams because I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it. It cost me a lot of money to do it, but it pays dividends.
“You have to have that driver that you feel like can carry you to championships and wins for decades. I think we have that guy. It’s not going to stop at road courses. Dirt racing, short tracks, speedways, he’s got what it takes on every racetrack we go to.”
The 18-year stock car veteran may be right about Reddick given his versatility at any racetrack type. Moreover, Reddick has the potential to be a leading man for Toyota’s NASCAR efforts when the current guard near the twilight of their careers.
As for Reddick’s performance in Sunday’s race, the Californian led six different times for a total of 41 laps, the most of any competitors at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course. Victory was not a sure thing even if the No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry was virtually bulletproof.
Did it get frustrating for Reddick to reset and prepare for each ensuing restart? If it did not, it would have been a shocker even for the most intense and focused of drivers like Reddick.
Arms raised in victory. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
Still, the cagey young racer tried to keep his sights set on the prize, not on the circumstances.
“Yeah, you just got to remove emotion from your thought,” Reddick said. “You’re being emotional in a moment, you can’t have the mental clarity to get the job done. You just have to remove all that from your brain. As much as, yes, it can be frustrating to have caution after caution, almost made it back to the start/finish line, it didn’t go our way.
“You just have to remove all that from your brain. It’s done and over with. You have to reset, be ready to go for the next restart, because everybody behind you is grinding their teeth, doing everything they can to get an edge on you.”
Ultimately, Reddick has remarkable talents backed by his maturity and outlook. Similarly, his all business approach is just what the doctor, or Toyota Racing program, ordered.
“You can’t be feeling bad for yourself. You have to get back to work and execute and just do it again,” he said.
