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While Tyler Reddick is considered one of the most talented road course races in NASCAR, it wasn’t always like that. The 23XI Racing driver used to struggle on the rights and lefts until an incident with Kevin Harvick.
There are times when you have a wake-up call and get to work on your craft. That is exactly what happened for Reddick in the 2020 season, his rookie year in the Cup Series.
Talking with Harvick on his Happy Hour podcast, Reddick opened up about that watershed moment. As he was struggling on the Roval course, Reddick got rear-ended by Harvick after over-braking into the chicane.
“You’re, you had some sort of issue you’re trying to come back through the field, and I’m just lost out there trying to go in the backstretch chicane,” Reddick explained. “And I think I’m at the braking zone, right, and I brake so early you a**-packed me I think it destroyed your radiator. It destroyed your race car, right? I’m back here running 30th just in everybody’s way.”
That incident made Tyler Reddick reflect. Now, out of the five Cup Series wins that Reddick has in his career, three have come on road courses.
An incident with @KevinHarvick at the ROVAL ultimately helped @TylerReddick become a better road course racer. #NASCAR
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) March 21, 2024
Full Episodehttps://t.co/yrElmfUe1m pic.twitter.com/JJBsj3G5MY
Looking back to that Roval race, what strikes me is Tyler Reddick finished P12. In fact, that P12 finish in his rookie season is the worst finish he has had at the Roval. Since 2020, Reddick has finished P2, P8, and P6 at the track.
In the 18 road course races since that 2020 Roval race, Reddick has an average finish just over 11th-place. If you take out his three Sonoma starts, the outlier of road courses for Reddick (P19, P35, P33), that average finish drops to right over 7th place.
Tyler Reddick ready to repeat at COTA
In Tyler Reddick’s final season with Richard Childress Racing, he pulled off three wins. He earned his first career victory at Road America in 2022. Then a few weeks later he won at the Indy Road Course, licking the bricks afterward. Of course, he picked up the win at Texas after being eliminated from the playoffs.
Last season, Reddick continued to be dominant on the road courses. He won COTA in convincing fashion. There was no one capable of catching up to him, and he was able to beat Kyle Busch for the win, the driver who filled the No. 8 car after Reddick left.
Sonoma and Chicago Street were not great finishes, either. P33 in Wine Country and P28 in the Windy City. However, finishes of P4 at Indy, P8 at Watkins Glen, and P6 at the Roval showed that Reddick could still get it done on the windy race tracks.
Tyler Reddick is the odds-on favorite to win at COTA this year and for good reason. He was great last season in his win. He followed it up with solid finishes on other road courses. With just a single top-5 finish to his record this season, Reddick is likely looking forward to getting back to Texas.
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