Tyler Reddick did everything he could to catch Kyle Larson in the final 15 laps of Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Unfortunately, everything he had was not enough. Reddick got as much of a car length behind Larson with just a few laps remaining, but the 2021 Cup Series champion held him off to win his second consecutive race at Las Vegas.
Reddick couldn’t hide his frustration while speaking with Regan Smith of FOX Sports after the race.
“Same s—, different year,” Reddick said.
Reddick was irked by the miscues on pit road which prevented him from running near the front of the field before the closing laps, a prevalent issue in his time at 23XI Racing. He notably lost position on the racetrack after locking his front tires up and sliding through his pit box during a stop earlier in the race.
While rebounding to secure a P2 result is hardly a bad outcome, it wasn’t the result Reddick was looking for.
“Second sucks,” Reddick said, via Performance Racing Network. “We should’ve been up there battling before the final laps. We had to fight back all day. You’ve gotta run up front all day long. When asked what we need to do to get better, that’s the very thing. Didn’t do it today.”
Tyler Reddick, rest of field no match for Kyle Larson at Las Vegas
Still, it’s quite the turnaround for Reddick, who started the season with disappointing results in the Daytona 500 and in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Reddick finished P29 at Daytona and P30 at Atlanta.
Reddick and the rest of the field didn’t have an answer for Larson, who dominated from nearly start to finish. Larson led 181-of-267 laps and won both Stages 1 and 2 en route to picking up his 24th-career victory in the Cup Series.
“They were counting laps, but I was so focused I didn’t even know how many laps were left,” Larson said after the race. “Just an awesome day, an awesome racecar … Everybody who helps out Team Hendrick, it’s so fun to come out and dominate a race like this.”
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