NASCAR CUP SERIES: FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400

August 19, 2024

Tyler Reddick

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Tyler Reddick. His second win of the season. Moves him into the points lead by 10 points I believe for the first time in your career.

If you can take us through the race today, that big win.

TYLER REDDICK: Like, I don't know if it really counts, but I think when I won the first or second Duel? Whatever. I don't know.

It was a pretty chaotic race for us going into the night. We had a bad restart. Just didn't really know where we were going to stack up. But I think we had a good sense of direction of what we needed to do going into today's race, when we knew what our plan was going to be coming down pit road for the first time.

I think we made good adjustments on the car all day. It wasn't really a smooth day. We made some mistakes on pit road, put us in a bad spot going into stage three. Put us right behind the wreck, which was just lucky guess.

We had some good restarts after that, passing cars, getting close to the front. Obviously we had to take a little more fuel on the 9 and some of those guys. We just had to go up there and pass them back.

All in all it was a great day. I didn't know how it was going to shake out with a caution with six to go. Was hoping to maintain control. We didn't. Then we just got a really good push from Ty on the last restart, propelled us back into the lead.

THE MODERATOR: We'll go to media questions.

TYLER REDDICK: Are you and Jordan on talking terms?

Q. I think so.

TYLER REDDICK: Is he here?

Q. He is not.

TYLER REDDICK: I was worried. That episode, I was thinking, You guys were not happy with each other. You were very confused, then he got butt hurt when you thought he was absolutely crazy. I think 90% of America thought he was crazy.

Q. It's easy from an outside perspective to be like, Man, Tyler Reddick, he's been fast, chances to win, but now he's putting it together. He's taking what it gives him. Is that the case? Has your mentality change or is this circumstances that have allowed you to capitalize on your speed?

TYLER REDDICK: I think it does change a little bit. I think back to when I was in the 19 at BKR racing against Erik Jones, that was the old school format, it was kind of about having solid finishes, don't take yourself out. One spot is not a make or break. It's a season-long points battle.

When I feel like I'm in that position where I have to think about points and be a little smart, I think it's a good thing for me because I like to be at 105% or 110%. It pulls me back a little bit.

In the beginning of the race, I wanted to be more aggressive. I was like, Man, I think I'm a little loose. Yeah, because of thinking of points, I pull it back a little bit. I'm like, Yeah, let's tighten it a little bit if we get an opportunity. Happened today, first time we hit pit road. Woke our car up.

It's a fine line with this car trying to understand what the balance is going to have. Sometimes if you have a little bit of wiggling in the back of this car, it doesn't necessarily mean you're loose, it might be bumps.

We got it right today. We need to be tighter with better balance. When I was in the 2 car racing against the 00 for the regular-season championship, just trying to think of big picture has been good for me.

Early in the year, my career in the Cup Series, we have a really rough start, and I think I got to win, got to win. I feel like it cost us points because I'm more aggressive than I probably should be.

I think having a points mindset is good for me because I like to be more aggressive, probably more thank I should be in a lot of situations.

Q. Denny talked about your race craft, feeling that's something you have gotten better at. Is that as much part of it? What do you feel like you're doing a better job in getting these top threes as opposed to maybe last year, building on that?

TYLER REDDICK: I think it's keeping a level head. It's so easy to get really upset and frustrated when you have a car that's running top five all day, you have a bad pit stop, something goes awry. I think of Indy a couple weeks ago where we are kind of on our strategy, things are going to work out, a caution falls at the worst time. It's so easy get pissed, kind of throw it all away, let your anger get the best of you.

Feel like I've been doing a better job of keeping a level head, reset, what's our next move going to be, how are we going to pass this car ahead of us in the next one. Just having a better mindset has helped me.

Again, we're in a spot where we're battling for the regular-season championship. With that, my mindset is more thinking about that more so than my position, how do I pass the next guy. Trying to be a little bit smarter, I think that's helped me this year so far.

Q. You were in the unusual situation of signing a deal a year ahead of your contract was up. Denny talked about you being a generational talent. Now to be leading the points, success, even your Xfinity success, what was it like to hear the praise, the way that Denny talked about you? How do you feel you're fulfilling it, if that's the right word, at this point?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, for me, I remember winning the first championship, moving on to RCR, kind of having to start over and do it again. That second year with RCR, we had some bad days for sure. A lot of things went our way. We won a lot of races. We got to Homestead. I just had more motivation than I ever thought was possible to win that race, win the championship.

I think how aggressive I continue to be in certain moments has helped me along the way, but then there's been other moments when knowing when to pull back, seeing another corner, another lap, let that position go, has helped me in some other aspects.

It was really cool to see guys like him and Michael and others in our sport paying attention to the hard work I was putting in, trying to turn things around to RCR. We had a good year, right? We won three races at the end of it. Ultimately the Playoffs went catastrophically for us.

It was really cool to see they saw what I was bringing to the table there, how I was able to improve the program, and they wanted me to be a part of that. Toyota wanted me to be a part of their story as well, improve their cars. I feel like we've gotten better at road courses since I've gotten there. We've made things better.

It's just really nice to be in align with great people that share the same vision and goals you have. It's been a really fun year from that aspect this year, watching us climb up through the rankings and the points stands, if you will, continue to have really solid races.

I don't know. Being back there in points really, really far, you get desperate, you do things you probably shouldn't week in, week out. You lose points that are on the table that are pretty easy to get.

I think we've done just a good job of taking what the days will give us and getting good finishes out of it, not making critical mistakes. I give up a second here or there on the racetrack getting on and off of pit road. Big picture, it's nice having to keep that in the back of my mind. For me, it kind of keeps me underneath my ceiling of 105%. I finish more races out of it.

Q. Denny said you asked him a lot of questions, talked a lot. How has he impacted you? Since you mentioned Michael, you're not talking racing, what to do on the track, I don't know how he rubs off or impacted you.

TYLER REDDICK: Without a doubt, Michael is a competitive individual. Over his career, what he brings to the table to motivate us, something that you can't buy. It's a great asset for us to have.

Also having an owner and competitor in Denny is a great thing. I know he's going to race really hard on the racetrack, as he should. It's nice to be able to lean on him and get information. It's a two-way street, right, as it should be. I feel like he's able to help me with a lot of things I don't know about. I'm hoping in return there's things I pick up on that can benefit him and the 11 car, too. It's been fun, really great.

It was a great recovery style day. I thought we were kind of going to get out of here at one point best case 40 points, somewhere in the top 10. For us to rebound like we did, win the race, get the points that we did, was icing on the cake.

Q. What does it do for you to win a race where you lost the lead, questionable caution, you don't want to start the inside, you still end up winning?

TYLER REDDICK: Well, that's why I have a great team around me, right? I was selling myself short a little bit. I think to start this race, I was behind the 48, really cost me and Alex a bunch of spots trying to go bottom of three. We both went way, way back. That was in my mind.

I just didn't feel like I had good restarts on the bottom on Sunday and the first couple on Monday, today. I was trying to think big picture a little bit too much in that moment.

Ultimately if Billy and Nick are going to tell me, Regardless, you need to take the bottom if it's there, I'm going to listen to it and think of how I can do the best job to get the lead back.

Ty played a huge role in that giving me a really good push, got me ahead enough where I was able to clear the 24. The rest is history.

Q. Is it fair to say without the push from Ty, you probably wouldn't have been able...

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, second, third, fourth. Very fair.

Q. Was there any communication between your team and the 54 team on where to line up at the end?

TYLER REDDICK: No. I didn't know where it was going to work out. You always hope it's a teammate pushing you 'cause things just match up better, the bodies match up, the way the engine makes power, all those things work a little bit better.

Obviously if it would have been the 6, I feel like Brad is a really good pusher, understands how the things work as well. I would have felt pretty good about it either way.

Just knowing Ty and him knowing me, knowing how I'm going to approach the restart, it just worked really, really well. Obviously I didn't want the 24 to get half a car ahead, but it was kind of a perfect storm. He got ahead just enough where I could get on his left rear, I was able to use that side draft and the push to propel ourselves into the lead.

Q. Have you had the chance to talk to MJ yet? Did he regret not coming back today?

TYLER REDDICK: I don't know. If I felt better going into it, into the night, I would have tried to keep him to stay. I didn't really know how it was going to work out. We had a subpar day on Sunday. We didn't pass anybody. We got passed. We lost positions on restarts. I didn't know how our day was going to shake out.

We had a good mindset on strategy for adjustments on the car today, it worked out perfectly. It's something I regret. I probably should have at least tried to keep him to stay.

At the moment I didn't know if we were even going to finish top five. Just how racing can be sometimes. We're really proud of the team for making the right adjustments and getting my confidence back where it needed to be for today.

Q. Did you take a leap of faith going with Denny when you did? They were in their infancy. You left one of the iconic organizations in the sport. Here was a guy that had a vision, clearly MJ. Overall, for a guy that was a year into his first gig as a team owner, what was it about him that made you feel you had to be a part of it? What have you seen since that gives you hope for the future?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, just potential I think is one part of it. I saw week in and week out, racing against both their cars, the speed they bring to the table, the culture that they have at 23XI. It's important to me.

It takes everything to have a really good team. I just saw how fast they were building and just the rate of progression that they were on. I knew there's a lot of things that play into it, but one factor for sure is performance on the racetrack.

I knew that as time would continue to go on, they would continue to climb. I feel like we're really seeing it now, a lot of weeks.

Me and Bubba are really fast in practice. Doesn't always work out in the race, right? The capability of our cars are really, really high. They allow us to run inside the top five, have speed to get out front, be able to hold onto the lead as well.

A number of things play into it. I also just wanted to sink my feet into ground that I know I'd be there for a while, a number of years, and build a program, build our way to the top. Felt really good about that with 23XI.

Yeah, everything happens for a reason, and it was great for us and our group on the 45 to be able to start that process a year early and begin to learn each other and learn what we need to work on and improve. It's really helped for year two.

Q. Can you put your fan hat on and talk about what this next couple weeks is going to be like with at least two drivers with a shot to get in without winning, how dramatic it will be?

TYLER REDDICK: I feel like it always is. The first year with the Next Gen car was pretty crazy. Last year was really close unfortunately between two Toyotas with Ty and Bubba.

Yeah, it's just how this can go sometimes. It doesn't take many bad weeks to put you in a bad spot. But also you have the top, a lot of us are running really good. You just never know when a bad day's going to come your way. The 11 got a good finish out of it, but the 5 with their incident hurt them for sure.

It's really tight on speed on the racetrack, tight on points. That's what this Next Gen era has really done, brought us closer together from the front of the field to the back, just the little things, little moments in your day that can affect you so much. That's why today was just so cool and crazy.

Typically, in the Next Gen era, if you're at the back of the lead lap going into stage three, you're fighting to get 15th. That's what made this day so cool.

The competition out there, it's a matter of a couple of feet here and there, clearing yourself up, getting in line or not. It can cost you so many spots. Competition is just so tight front to back.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Tyler.