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Tyler Reddick, Todd Gilliland cars fail NASCAR pre-race inspection, car chiefs ejected at Kansas

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated May 10, 2025 6:56 PM ET

Earlier today, during pre-race inspections, NASCAR failed Tyler Reddick and Todd Gilliland’s cars twice, and that means penalties. As a result, both the 45 team and the 34 team will lose pit stall selection for this weekend, and each team will lose its car chief.

You never want to start the weekend with a double tech failure. That means no pit stall selection, and you lose a crew member. Nine times out of ten, that means losing the car chief or a lead engineer.

Tyler Reddick and Todd Gilliland are starting the weekend down a man. Let’s see how much this matters. I’d argue the pit stall selection is likely the biggest part of this penalty. Reddick could be a contender for the pole, and he will still end up with a terrible pit stall.

Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports confirmed the car chief ejections. Tough start to the weekend for both teams.

Reddick and Gilliland had their car chiefs ejected for two failures. https://t.co/kFhvtmmJoL
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 10, 2025

For Gilliland, having a positive run today would be massive. He has not had the season that many expected him to have out of the gate this season. Instead, he’s struggled and sits at 27th in points. He is one point worse than teammate Zane Smith and has almost a 50-point lead on Noah Gragson.

As for Tyler Reddick, he continues to climb in the points, but he needs to do more. If he wants to repeat as regular season champion, then scoring more stage points and getting back to victory lane are almost a must.

Reddick has won at Kansas before. However, in 2024, 23XI Racing struggled as a whole at the track. Will he turn things around for 2025?

Tyler Reddick has to find the winning edge

So far this season, three drivers have separated themselves with wins and another has separated himself on points. The top-four right now are William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. When it comes to 2025, these drivers have been a level above the rest.

Last season, Reddick entered that next level. From Charlotte to Atlanta-2 last season, Reddick was the best driver in the series. Plain and simple. He only won a single race in that time, but he was a threat on a weekly basis. It felt like he was always at least one or two restarts or adjustments away from winning.

We are getting into that time of the season once again. I will have an eye on Reddick and his performance in the next few weeks. The summer is where he thrived a year ago and I think he could do it again as 23XI continues to pick up points weekly.

There are 15 races left in the regular season. Tyler Reddick has time to do more. Will he have another hot summer like in 2024 or will he be taking a backseat to those top drivers this year?

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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