23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick has turned quite a few heads with his performance this year. Getting into the playoffs with the help of his agile Toyota, he has scored well in the first stage visiting the victory lane at Kansas and finishing runner-up at Darlington. As things stand, he is one of the top favorites to excel in the round of 12 and advance further into the contest. But the task that he faces will not be without its challenges.

Ahead of the second stage’s first race at the Texas Motor Speedway, the driver spoke with commentator Dave Moody on MRN’s NASCAR Live and revealed his thoughts on a crucial upcoming race.

The Talladega Challenge has turned boring for Tyler Reddick, courtesy of the Next-Gen car

One of the central topics in discussion on their chat was Tyler’s thoughts on racing at the Talladega Superspeedway. The fastest track in the land, Talladega poses multiple risks with the high-speed encounter that it enables. Over the years there have been many devastating crashes on the track. And for Tyler too, it hasn’t been one of his better tracks.

Over his last 4 appearances there, he did not finish the race on two occasions and ended up outside the top 25 in one. Despite the stats, his performance while he cruised around the 2.5-mile oval was praise-worthy. That promise was what led to Dave’s question that went, “Is Talladega basically going to be terrifying no matter what your track record there is? It seems like you could have won two or three in a row there and you’re still scared to death.”

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Answering the rather open question, the Denny Hamlin-Michael Jordan partnership’s driver delivered an otherwise balanced answer, that slightly pricked into the boring nature of the next-gen car. Claiming that the track had become more predictable, he said, “It’s gotten a little more predictable, I’d say. Because of the nature of the next-gen car. In the draft, it is a little bit more straightforward. I mean, it is what it is, right?” However, he quickly found his footing and commented on the surprises that could spring up at any point regardless of his claim.

Watch Story: Denny Hamlin Points a Finger at Nascar’s Intricate System for Teammate’s Dramatic Downfall

Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s star driver acknowledges the reality of what must be done 

Before the ongoing season began, the NASCAR Next Gen car got a host of safety features after a lot of complaints from drivers about hard impacts from rear-end collisions. John Patalak, the promotion’s Vice President of Safety Engineering had said at the time that they were going through multiple iterations that would improve the integrity of the car. The effects of the upgrades were visible from the crash-filled race at Daytona in September.

But along with the responsibility of improving safety comes the need to not draw too close a circle that takes the joy out of racing, particularly at tracks like Talladega. Expressing the risks involved despite his own optimism, Tyler Reddick said to Dave, “…the Toyotas were good together, I feel like we should be able to control our destiny. But yeah, anything can go wrong at any point, right? I think we have seen it more with this car. (…) In whichever lane it is, whether it is in the bottom or the middle, right? The crash can happen from anywhere.” 

Well aware that risking a crash is not as expensive as hanging out at the back, Michael Jordan and Hamlin’s star driver sounded hot for the toughest challenge of stage two as he said, “It is the type of risk that we can’t really afford to just hang out at the back and beg on that crash happening. Because more times than not, it doesn’t seem to really happen.” But before gets to the YellaWood 500 at Talladega, he goes to Texas for the Automotive 400. Conquering the track last year, he will be hoping to repeat the same magic this year with the added support of the Next-Gen car’s safety boosts.

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