Tyler Reddick Makes Playoffs at Daytona, Yet Season-Long Struggles Linger: ‘We Have to Clean It Up’

Tyler Reddick’s downfall proves how cruel a sport NASCAR can be. At this point of the 2024 Cup Series season, he was the regular season champion and a favorite to win the title. And now, he has barely made it into the playoffs and finished 21st at Daytona on Saturday. He is aware of how big a turnaround he has to make in the postseason.

He believes that his No. 45 Camry has been good on speed and that he just needs to capitalize and execute on it. He said, “We’re going to have to clean it up, and we’re going to have to be forced to do that in the middle of the playoffs. Honestly, I don’t even know where we’re going after Darlington at this point. Take it one race at a time at this point.”

Reddick expressed strong confidence in his 23XI Racing crew to be able to put things together going ahead and continued, “We’ve got work to do for sure. I think we’re all capable of it. But yeah, the year has flown by, and we’re still sitting here with no win, trying to put a race together.”

By the end of the 2024 regular season, Reddick had already won two races. His team co-owners, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, were incredibly proud of him when he made it to the Championship 4 last season.

This year, however, Reddick has secured five top-fives and nine top-10s, but no wins.  It is up to him to reach that mark once again. Also competing with him in the playoffs this time around will be his teammate, Bubba Wallace.

How did Reddick perform at Daytona on Saturday?

Reddick’s day at Daytona got off to an awful start. He made contact with Todd Gilliland on Lap 18 and caused both their cars to spin. He crashed into the inside wall, and his Toyota suffered significant damage. For a while, it appeared like the mistake might foil his hopes of making it to the playoffs.

But Alex Bowman crashed out of the race, and Reddick got to retain his spot. “It was a really awful mistake to make so early in the race,” Reddick explained to NBC Sports. “Yeah, it was really disappointing for the experience I have to find myself in that position. As a driver, you never want to make a mistake like that that early.”

After a highly underwhelming regular season, the 29-year-old heads to the playoffs as an underdog. Combined with the legal issues that his team is facing right now, he has a huge mountain to climb. Hopefully, he will be up for the job.