Why Tyler Reddick Is a Dark Horse for the 2024 NASCAR Regular Season Championship

"He's Only Four": Tyler Reddick's Son Enjoying Father's NASCAR Life

23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick’s race finishes in the 2024 Cup Series season display one victory lane visit and eight top-5 results. Many of these top-5 results were opportunities to win that he missed narrowly. Had he been able to convert them into victory lane visits, he potentially could’ve been in prime position to win the regular season championship. Thankfully, he can still do so.

The most recent of Reddick’s frustrating outings came over the last two weekends. In Nashville a week ago, he reached race leader Joey Logano’s bumper going into Turn 3 for one last time but couldn’t find a way past. He ended up in third place. This past Sunday in Chicago, he was quick on the heels of leader Alex Bowman and had a car fast enough to catch him when the white flag flew.

But he took a corner too tight in the final moments and hit the inside wall. The contact broke his flow and he had to settle for being the runner-up. Similar results were visible earlier in the season as well. He finished second to Kyle Larson at Las Vegas after an incredible chase that was one for history. Yet another potential got away from him in Darlington after a wreck with Chris Buescher.

With all these close-cut results in hindsight, one can’t help but wonder what the points table would look like had he been able to win these races. Reddick is currently third in the standings and holds eight playoff points. He has five more races in hand to try and overcome the 23-point deficit that he has to table leader Larson and grab the regular season championship.

What Reddick needs to start winning more races

Retired racing icon Kevin Harvick has been highly critical of Reddick in recent weeks. He hadn’t been a fan of Reddick’s apology to Buescher for wrecking him in Darlington in the first place. Following his close finishes in recent weeks, Harvick has reiterated that the youngster needs to develop a stronger mentality to reduce the number of winning opportunities he misses out on.

He said on the Harvick Happy Hour podcast, “He’s in position to win more races than what he’s won. I think that that frustration that he carries on himself is probably affecting him and the things that are happening at the end of these races.” Reddick’s next opportunity to reach the victory lane will come at the Pocono Raceway this Sunday.

Post Edited By: Srijan Mandal
Tyler Reddick

About the author

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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