Tyler Reddick has been on a rollercoaster ride this season. Despite having a fast car and being in a prime position to win several races, he has let numerous opportunities slip through his fingers due to his inability to control his emotions on track. While the 23XI driver has still managed to stay at a promising position on the playoffs list, watching him miss so many checkered flags has veteran driver Kevin Harvick frustrated for him!
While addressing Reddick’s performance on the tracks, Harvick took to his podcast to discuss how this talented driver has made the tiniest mistakes that have ultimately ruined his chances of racing down the victory lane.
A great performance but no wins for Reddick!
Tyler Reddick is a brilliant driver and there’s no doubt about that. Anyone to deny that would be a fool. Even the retired driver Kevin Harvick applauded his brilliant performance at most races. However, he was a little disappointed to see that the drivers from Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team were lagging because of a lack of street smartness when driving the fastest machine!
He took the example of the recent race at the Chicago, where Reddick was reportedly said to have had the fastest car than most of the competitors present there, including Hendrick Motorsports Racing’s Alex Bowman‘s #48! According to Reddick, he was poised to catch Bowman on the final lap of the race, but at the last minute, he clipped the wall at turn 2, which ended up costing him the potential victory. And the week before, at Nashville, Reddick was battling Joey Logano for the win. Again, despite having the fastest car, his determination to stay in the top lane was a bad move on his part. This cost him the checkered flag and forced him to watch Logano take the victory to his name. Bummer, right? A similar story unfolded in Las Vegas as well, where he failed to overtake Kyle Larson for the win.
While describing these events, Kevin Harvick observed that it’s because of Reddick’s lack of temperament that has potentially cost him numerous wins, which were pretty easy. “He’s just going through a lot of scenarios that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on all these wins and we saw the frustration after Nashville,” Harvick said on his podcast. He then put this mounting frustration with no relief to blame, urging Reddick to probably calm down and think. “But he’s gotta figure it out because he’s got cars that are in situations, whether he has the car or not, he’s had situations where he was in the position to win more races than what he’s won and I think it’s that frustration that he carries on himself, it’s probably affecting him in the things that are happening at the end of these races.”
Harvick even took a moment to note that despite finishing third in the Nashville race, Reddick was clearly frustrated after the event. And while the driver insisted that there was nothing positive he could have taken away from that particular event, Harvick’s analysis of his performances proves that this is a repeated mistake made by Reddick and he will have to change his strategy if he’s aiming to shoot for the stars in the upcoming races. It’s a rookie mistake and Reddick will have to admit that sooner rather than later!
Sure, Tyler Reddick has managed to secure at least one victory this NASCAR Cup Series season and he may be set to compete in the playoffs, but these minor setbacks will always weigh heavily on him. If he’s hoping to regain his winning form before the playoffs commence, he’ll have to take into account that there’s some work to be put in, starting with attention to detail! As the old saying goes, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and Reddick will need to channel his frustration into a steely determination if he wants to bring home more wins for the 23XI team and himself. Perhaps he’ll surprise the crew at Pocono Raceway since his performance on the practice race looked promising.
Reddick spins but still leads the practice
In all his effort, Reddick has been knocking on the door of victory lane for weeks, only managing to secure eighth or better in six of his last seven races, including a pair of third and second-place results. As Harvick said, in order to leverage his talent and speed, Reddick should develop a steady temperament, which he seems to have achieved at Pocono.
During the practice before the Pocono race, Tyler Reddick suddenly spun out in Turn 2 and missed the wall by an inch. But being the invincible force he is, the No. 45 Toyota recovered quickly and returned to the track in less than 10 minutes and set the fastest average lap speed of both practice sessions at 168.230 mph. Now there’s the fire that Harvick was talking about!
The NASCAR Cup Series is heating up and Reddick could be responsible for the flames on Pocono’s track! Hopefully, Reddick will consider Harvick’s advice and secure his second win of the season soon. Especially with the playoffs fast approaching, the time is ripe for Reddick to unleash his inner wild driver and cement his status as a true championship contender. Do you think he’ll make it past the checkered flag?
