Although Tyler Reddick presented an impressive performance show last year, finishing P4 in the final standings following a regular-season championship win, the Daytona 500 race has continuously eluded him since his NASCAR Cup Series debut. The evasive victory likely fueled his candid reflections on his expectations for the upcoming Daytona 500 weekend.
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Speaking with the Associated Press, Reddick expressed his frustrations with speedway racing, describing it as a longstanding nightmare due to its unpredictability and steep learning curve. He said:
“Speedway racing has been a nightmare for me over the years. There are so many things that can happen, and it’s still a learning experience. … Finishing the 500 would be a start. I finished it one year, but I was like 500 laps down. If I can finish on the lead lap in the 500 — I know that’s a big ask — that would be a great start to the year. I would feel like we’re miles ahead.”
For now, Reddick is focused on making incremental progress, or “baby steps.” Statistically also, Daytona has been his most challenging track, with an average finish of 24.9 across 11 starts since 2019, and 26.3 since the inclusion of Next Gen cars in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022.
With the 23XI Racing team, that he joined in 2023, Reddick has participated in four Daytona races and finished P39 and P29 in the two 500s, and P25 and P28 in the season’s later races — Coke Zero Sugar 400.
But the #45 driver’s best finish at the Daytona 500 came in 2021, where he secured P27 place, while his top performance at Daytona International Speedway materialized in 2022, finishing P2 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Last year, Reddick showed his skills on superspeedways by winning races at Talladega in April and at one of the Daytona qualifying Duels in February. He also secured a top-5 finish at Nashville Superspeedway during the regular season.
Given these accomplishments, there is a growing expectation that Reddick may excel at this season’s Daytona 500.
Furthermore, Reddick is riding a wave of momentum from last year, evidenced by his performance during the Clash race at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he finished sixth after consistently running in the top 10 throughout the event.
