DAYTONA BEACH, FL.: Tyler Reddick survived a chaotic third stage in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway to edge his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon for a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Reddick’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Kitchens Chevrolet team definitely sweated out the final laps of the Cup regular-season finale, especially after Reddick found himself involved in the sixth caution of the race when a multi-car accident erupted on the backstretch collecting Reddick and seven other drivers at Lap 146.
Damage control by Reddick’s Richard Childress Racing team kept him in contention and the Corning, Calif. native did his job over the final 15 laps keeping the bigger picture in mind.
Avoiding two more major accidents over the final 37.5 miles of the race, including a massive nine-car accident in Turn 3 on the last lap, Reddick coasted to the checkered flag under caution in sixth and stamped his way into the race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Following NASCAR Cup Series post-race inspection, Reddick would be credited with a fifth-place finish after runner-up finisher Chris Buescher failed post-race inspection after his car failed to meet the requirements of the track bar mounting assembly.
“There was definitely so much happening there during the race and I didn’t get nervous till Stage 3 there on a restart that I thought was coming, but he did a really good job of matching the move with Chase Elliott going three-wide on the bottom and we lost all the track position that we gained there in Stage 2,” said Reddick.
“From that point on we had the cycles and the cautions that came when we got collected in that accident with 15 to go. Yeah, that is when the nerves kind of shot up because the car is crashed, we were out of the draft, and not really sure what was going to happen.”
It wasn’t as easy as just hanging on to the rear of the pack to earn his first spot in the Playoffs though.
With at least six drivers tucked in the top-10 with an opportunity to win and propel themselves into the Playoff spotlight in NASCAR overtime, the players of Matt DiBenedetto, teammate Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones all found themselves in the last lap mess in Turn 3, while Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher came up one position short behind race winner Ryan Blaney.
“We caught a caution and fortunately got through that last crash,” added Reddick. “Even more fortunate than that was that Ryan Blaney was able to win and if you look at the guys from third to myself if any of those guys win but Blaney, we are having a different conversation.”
Even with a mangled race car after the accident, Reddick wasn’t worried about whether or not he would be able to finish the race. Realizing that everything looked fine on his dashboard and the smoke that billowed from behind his race car would eventually dissipate.
“Well, once the vitals on the dash showed everything was fine, me personally, I wasn’t worried,” he explained. “It was a matter of getting the oil that was trapped or stuck…..just a matter of time for it to just work its way out of the car and to stop looking like we were having all kinds of leaks.
“That is when NASCAR thought we still had a leak. Technically our engine was good, and we didn’t have any leaks. We just had some fluid lying around from the accident.”
And even Reddick’s teammate Austin Dillon gave them a run for their money.
With a mission to capitalize on stage points, Dillon kept his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet near the front of the field and even though Dillon cut the deficit in Stage 1, Reddick rebounded in Stage 2 finishing fourth – just two spots behind Dillon.
Despite developing some electrical issues in Stage 3, Dillon with a new battery found himself fourth for the two-lap run to the finish, but he was collected in the last lap melee and finished 18th – and fell short of overtaking Reddick for the final spot in the Playoff grid.
The worrying is over though, and Reddick’s 13th top-10 of the season will allow the Welcome, N.C.-based team to regroup and focus on the Playoff opener next weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
And the pressure that Reddick hasn’t felt since contending for the Xfinity Series championship in 2019 is gone. At least for now.
“Almost more than the Xfinity Series Championship honestly because you have so many drivers that were in the top 15 that could win and change everything for our year,” he said explaining himself in high pressure situations.
“So yeah, a lot of nerves running right there and getting through that crash somehow like we did, and getting the finish and crossing the line and whatnot. Still got sixth (fifth*) and we got lucky.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
