“I wish I could have been just a little bit closer.” Tyler Reddick felt dejected after finishing runner-up at the Southern 500. The No. 45 Toyota was hit by Josh Berry’s Ford on the first lap, and Reddick’s day almost ended. The 23XI Racing driver recovered and rebounded with a car faster than Chase Briscoe’s. However, Reddick was never able to pass Briscoe’s fiery dominance, as the latter led for 300+ laps. And he blames NASCAR’s 2022 innovation for it.

Ever since it debuted in 2022, the Next-Gen car has been in the middle of a raging debate. From causing concussion-laden wrecks to increasing parity in the race field, many of the car’s aspects have gotten on Cup Series drivers’ nerves. Now, Tyler Reddick finds himself at his wits’ end with the racecar.

Tyler Reddick deliberately runs into the wall

There has been no dearth of achievements for Tyler Reddick. He hoisted consecutive Xfinity Series championship trophies in 2018 and 2019. Despite the Next-Gen car rolling out in 2022, Reddick has continued to achieve, picking up 8 Cup Series victories since. Last year, Reddick brought home 15 top ten finishes in the first 22 races, a record matched only by Chase Elliott in the Next-Gen era. Nevertheless, he still looks back at the pre-Next-Gen era longingly. This year’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington received 54.1% negative votes from fans. From William Byron dominating the race almost entirely to a car running 160 laps down, ultimately changing the outcome, several aspects fell out of favor with fans. Now, Reddick is also not satisfied.

In a recent ‘Stacking Pennies’ episode, Tyler Reddick confessed his honest take about the car. “Might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda hate it,” he said. Drivers also cannot risk hitting the wall, thus further axing their attempts to pass. Reddick continued, “I really loved, you know, the amount of precision that we had in the steel body car at places like Homestead, Darlington – anywhere you could run the high-liner, run near the fence. Because I felt like, you know, that was something I was really good at. I knew I could run really close to the wall and not hit it.” He further said, “When we go to Darlington now with the Next-Gen car, the guys are running this far off the wall. It might be because they do hit it, and they have issues hitting into the wall.” 

To somehow cope with the Next-Gen car’s faults, Tyler Reddick has a unique method in practice. “I think, for me, it’s just having a really good understanding of where your car ends…of where the right-rear quarter panel is…With the composite body, you can bend the toe link, you can tear up the suspension. But for the most part, guys don’t even practice, and I’m one of them as well. I don’t care. I will literally go hit the wall in practice, because I wanna know exactly where the wall is and how much room I got.” Reddick could finish 16th at Gateway, and presently holds a 37-point playoff advantage heading into the Round of 12.

While Tyler Reddick grapples with the racetrack’s demands, he also battles a courtroom dilemma.

His team owner has faith

23XI Racing has been fairly consistent on the racetrack. However, the same cannot be said about the team’s off-track fortunes. The Fourth District of Appeals overturned the team’s charters over the summer in the ongoing NASCAR lawsuit. Racing as an open team, 23XI may lose Tyler Reddick, who has an opt-out clause in this dire situation. However, Denny Hamlin, who owns the Cup Series team with Michael Jordan and Curtis Polk, has faith in Reddick. During a media availability at World Wide Technology Raceway, Hamlin said he is not anticipating that outcome. “We have him under contract. I think he probably feels as confident as we are for December. I’m not sure.”

Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick also has faith in his team owner. During the first round of pit stops at the Enjoy Illinois 300, Reddick left his stall with a loose wheel. To avoid a catastrophic restart, he rolled his No. 45 Toyota into Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 pit box. His rising emotions were audible over the radio: “Stop, stop in the box! Stop at the 23! Stop somewhere! Stop at a Toyota box! Stop! The 11, the 11, the 11!” He continued, “Left rear, left rear, Nick! Tell them left rear. Jack it up, left rear!” Reddick started the race in seventh, but the failed pit stop handed him a setback in the first stage.

Tyler Reddick heads to Bristol Motor Speedway 7th in the point standings. In his title run, he is grappling with Next-Gen problems and courtroom concerns – let’s see how he fares.