Tyler Reddick and his 23XI Racing group are searching for solutions.
The NASCAR Cup Sequence common season champion has not proven the identical type to date within the postseason. Reddick has a mean end of 19.5 by the primary 4 races with one top-10 end and 21 stage factors. Final Sunday, he was an also-ran at Kansas Speedway — the place he gained final yr — taking a Twenty fifth-place end.
“[We’re] undoubtedly involved,” Reddick mentioned in response to a query from RACER. “What bought us to profitable the common season championship is automotive efficiency — with that good dealing with as nicely. They’re form of hand in hand; you do have weekends the place you might have quick race automotive nevertheless it’s not going to deal with nearly as good. However for us, we’ve simply been missing efficiency and a good-handling automotive.”
A sixth-place end at Atlanta Motor Speedway is Reddick’s finest within the postseason. He has not earned a prime 5 since profitable at Michigan Worldwide Speedway (Aug. 18), which can also be the final time he led a double-digit variety of laps in a Cup Sequence race.
“Yeah, at this level it’s undoubtedly a headscratcher,” Reddick continued. “I really feel like all of us coming off of the common season, I felt no emphasis change what I used to be doing. I don’t suppose anybody on this group has both. We simply haven’t been placing collectively good races. We haven’t had velocity; we haven’t been capable of get stage factors.
“It’s been powerful.”
Kansas Speedway was one of many greatest surprises for Reddick. Not solely was he the defending winner on the speedway, however Reddick has excelled on intermediate racetracks. He certified fourth for Sunday’s race, however averaged a twelfth place working place and solely led laps by a inexperienced flag pit cycle.
“You have a look at Kansas — we did run the right-side shark fin and whereas I really feel like a variety of of us on the NASCAR aspect felt it wasn’t going to vary the attribute of how the automotive drives, it was an enormous swing in how the automotive reacts to sliding,” Reddick mentioned. “I believed I used to be driving a Gen 6 automotive once more this previous Sunday since you may slide it a lot farther than you would earlier than. Usually, with this automotive, in the event you get sideways, you’re wrecking and spinning out. However you would slide it and simply proceed to slip it. So, I don’t know if that’s a part of it.
“I believe on our finish we understood it was going to be a good change to the automotive however we certified OK, we began the race off with respectable velocity and knew stability migration was going to be a battle. It was unhealthy for lots of the Toyotas nevertheless it was actually on the acute aspect for us. So, nothing [we] actually can level our fingers at, to be trustworthy.”
Reddick entered the postseason with 28 playoff factors because the No. 3 seed. He went from 20 factors above the cutline earlier than Kansas Speedway to 4 factors under the cutline, the primary driver out of a switch spot, after the race. The sequence heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, the place Reddick gained within the spring.
