Tyler Reddick laments 'big missed opportunity' after Iowa crash

Tyler Reddick's race at Iowa Speedway on Sunday lasted approximately 4.25 laps before his No. 45 Toyota Camry was in the outside wall. 

Reddick got loose while racing Erik Jones in turn 1, sending both cars into the wall and knocking both drivers out of the race. Jones and Reddick finished 35th and 36th, respectively. 

For Jones, the wreck was a huge blow to his Chase hopes. For Reddick, it knocked him from second to fourth in the Cup Series standings and all but eliminated him from contending for the No. 1 Chase seed, as he's 120 points back of leader Denny Hamlin with three races left in the regular season. 

Iowa was a missed opportunity for Tyler Reddick

Speaking of Hamlin, Sunday's race was seen as a major opportunity for Reddick, given that Hamlin had major brake issues on Saturday and had to start the race at the rear of the field. However, Hamlin finished fifth and now has a 103-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs going into the Aug. 15 race at Richmond. 

"It was a real bad deal," Reddick said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "Obviously for the 45 team, big missed opportunity with the 11 having his struggles and issues. We had a chance to get some stage points there, and then we qualified good on top of it. It seemed like Sunday morning, [we were] poised to get back on track and have a good day.

"Just a really bad deal all around. I hate that it happened, but unfortunately it happened. There's no words or actions that can put those cars back on the racetrack in that moment clean. It's a big bummer."

Reddick expressed frustration on the part of Jones and the No. 43 team and was remorseful when talking about how their day ended. 

"Their road to the Chase just got a lot harder because of us," Reddick said of Jones, who is 20th in the standings and 50 points out of the Chase.

Richmond could be an opportunity for Reddick to at least take third or second in the standings. He won Stage 1 at Richmond last year and finished third at Richmond in 2024.