NASCAR at Pocono: Back When Tyler Reddick Got Under Austin Dillon’s Skin and Caught a Helmet for His Troubles

Although the 2023 Pocono race is best remembered for the clash between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, where the Joe Gibbs Racing driver charged hard into the corner, drew level with the #5 Chevy, and washed up the track on exit, forcing Larson wide and into the SAFER barrier down the Long Pond Straight with light door-to-door contact, it wasn’t just Larson who left the Tricky Triangle fuming.

Austin Dillon walked away from Pocono with a fire in his belly, perhaps even more incensed after a collision with Tyler Reddick abruptly ended his race.

Dillon’s day came undone in the final stage of the HighPoint.com 400 after Reddick’s 23XI Racing’s No. 45 clipped his Chevrolet heading into Turn 1 on Lap 106 of 160.

The contact sent Dillon spinning into the outside retaining wall before his car came to rest on the apron. Having driven alongside Reddick at Richard Childress Racing from 2020 to 2022, only to see him jump ship to 23XI Racing for 2023, Dillon wasted no time showing where he stood.

Climbing out uninjured and dropping the window net to signal he was okay, the 33-year-old stormed toward the racing line under yellow and hurled his helmet at Reddick’s car, a symbolic shot that missed its mark. After being evaluated and cleared at the infield care center, Dillon maintained that Reddick had drifted up into him, dismissing any notion that he came down across the #45 driver.

While Dillon’s run ended in a bitter P34 after rolling off P23, Reddick shrugged off the incident and raced his way to a runner-up finish behind fellow Toyota driver Denny Hamlin.

In his post-race comments, Reddick took a diplomatic stance.

“First things first, I’m just glad he’s OK. Him and Brad (Keselowski) were on older tires, and I figured I’d take advantage of the momentum that I had and put them in a little three-wide.”

“I was in the bottom lane, and he just tried to I think beat me in the corner a little bit and came down on myself. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late and the contact had already took place,” he said.

Dillon, on the other hand, didn’t bite his tongue. “I was just trying to hit him. I’m pissed I didn’t lead it,” he said, frustrated that his helmet toss fell wide. When asked if the throw settled the score, Dillon didn’t mince words: “No, I just need to start wrecking some people.”