CONCORD, N.C.: Tyler Reddick enjoyed a nice cushion entering the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota was fast in practice and qualified second.
After starting on the front row on Sunday and winning the first stage, Reddick appeared to be well on his way to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs—but his prosperity disappeared 10 laps later, in a wild melee in Turn 7.
“Yeah, I thought I was going to flip,” said Reddick, describing the moment he went airborne after hitting the curb in the newly configured corner. “I think I was behind the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.)—trying to work the move to the inside. I got clear of him. I saw the 3 (Austin Dillon) spun and everyone on the binders coming to a stop, and of course, me and my boss (Denny Hamlin) get together.
“It was like I was going to do a front flip – this thing was absolutely destroyed…I ran into a giant mess there. I thought at that point, my day was over.”
Reddick had restarted 26th and was cutting through the field. After launching into his team owner, Hamlin, Reddick immediately reported to crew chief Billy Scott that he felt his right rear toe link was broken as he came to the pits.
Hamlin, who was 23rd at the time, also suffered a broken toe link in the exchange.
“Really, the biggest thing – it just messed up the alignment and bent the toe link or something in the rear,” Hamlin said. “We lost some car speed there with that, but glad it didn’t lead to a detrimental day.”
Reddick dropped to the rear of the field—and below the cut line after entering the race with a 14-point buffer. He worked his way up to 30th by the end of the second stage on Lap 51.
“Huge props to everyone on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry,” Reddick said. “This thing couldn’t go within four seconds of what the pace was, and we just kept working on it.”
With additional service through the two additional cautions he was able to pick up the pace. Reddick was 26th—with 26 laps remaining—and put the No. 45 in overdrive.
“We just had to push really, really hard,” Reddick said. “The car wasn’t quite the same but it didn’t matter. We had to get the most out of it and make those spots up.”
From a Playoff perspective, the battle heated up between Joey Logano and Reddick. As the laps wound down, Reddick was two points below the cut line and Logano was two points above. On Lap 88, Chase Elliott passed Logano for fifth. With 19 laps remaining, Logano was desperately fighting to hold on to sixth-place—but AJ Allmendinger was coming and Reddick had climbed to 18th.
Six laps later, a battle ensued between Logano and Allmendinger. Once the No. 16 Chevrolet passed the No. 22 Ford, Reddick moved into the Playoffs by 2 and Logano was out.
“We were a lot better in stage three,” said Reddick, who finished 11th. “This is how this place can be sometimes, but it is really nice to pull this off.”
Team owner Michael Jordan was one of the first to congratulate Reddick. Hamlin was a quick second.
“He thought both of us got wiped out here in one corner,” Hamlin reflected on Jordan’s thoughts. “Certainly, he’s proud of the progress the team is making, the comeback that they had. Billy (Scott, 45 crew chief) and that team fixing that car, it’s a proud moment to see someone drive up from 26th to 11th on that last run.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
