KANSAS CITY, Kan.: Tyler Reddick kept the winning parade rolling for Toyota Racing at Kansas Speedway last September—the third driver in four races behind the wheel of the No. 45 23XI Racing Camry to roll into Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile track.
On Sunday, Reddick will roll off the grid 15th for the AdventHealth 400 as he looks to continue the winning ways of the No. 45 entry at the 1.5-mile track.
Reddick, who is in his second season with 23XI Racing, credits co-owner Denny Hamlin with the organization’s success at the intermediate track.
”I think it’s our boss,” Reddick said of Hamlin. “He’s just really great. We hear Freddie Kraft (No. 23 spotter) talk about it all the time. I think that’s just a big part of it. Denny’s just great, so we’re great too.”
Kurt Busch started the No. 45’s streak at Kansas in 2022 when 23XI Racing added that team to the stable. When Busch was sidelined eight races later following a vicious wreck at Pocono Raceway, Bubba Wallace swapped seats in an effort to race for the owner’s championship. Two races into the 2022 Playoffs, Wallace wheeled the No. 45 Toyota into Victory Lane at Kansas.
Hamlin collected the trophy here in the spring before Reddick scored his second win of 2023 with the Sunflower State victory. Prior to last September, Reddick’s best result was seventh. The greatest advice the driver has gleaned for Kansas since moving to 23XI Racing is to just stay in the hunt.
“Those two races we had here last year, I wasn’t thrilled with the overall speed we had, necessarily,” Reddick said. “But we just stayed in the mix and got good finishes out of them. Certainly, like last fall for example, we were pretty solid, but the 11 (Hamlin) was a little bit better.
“Was nice to be that close, but yeah, the situation ended up unfolding and we had an opportunity to pit, and we were able to execute that late race caution and come away with a win. So it was nice to go win a race like that. Typically, they’ve been pretty straightforward so that was one of the first times on a mile-and-a-half that I was able to take away.
In practice, Reddick posted a quick time of 29.834 seconds, faster than any previous qualifying lap at Kansas in the Next Gen era. He was third quick in the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average category behind William Byron and Kyle Larson.
In the time trials that followed, Reddick couldn’t duplicate his lap. Christopher Bell topped the speed chart with a time of 29.491 seconds for his 11th-career pole and third at Kansas Speedway. Still, Reddick’s 26 laps of practice offered a solid indication of what the team has for the race.
“A place like this, you get a good feel of what you got, for the most part and you can see where the field stacks up as well,” Reddick said. “This is normally one of the more beneficial practice sessions we have. Outside of that, the weather will be a little bit different tomorrow than it is today. I know that’s been changing. A couple days ago, it was supposed to be raining right now, so good that it’s clearing up a bit.
“But a place like this, with the fall-off you experience for example, it does become very beneficial.”
Although Reddick’s sole win this season came at Talladega Superspeedway, the 28-year-old racer has enjoyed tremendous success on intermediates this year. He finished second at Las Vegas and fourth at Texas. Between the speeds displayed by the Toyotas this season and the confidence Reddick carries entering Kansas, he looks to duplicate his result in the last race at the track.
”It certainly helps,” Reddick said. “For me, it’s always in a good place going to a mile-and-a-half. So far this year, at the mile-and-a-halves, we’ve been really strong. Atlanta is a little bit different, but Texas, Las Vegas, we were very fast. I didn’t lead a lot of laps at Las Vegas, but we were right there with (Kyle) Larson.
“Looking at the last two, and again, we were able to steal one away last year, but I know there were some things we didn’t really like in our race car that we were able to learn from and make some better changes coming back. I know that we can always be better and know we can be better than what we were. So confidence from that last fall and the other mile-and-a-halves certainly has me in a good spot.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
