It’s not looking good for Tyler Reddick. With just one race remaining before the Round of 8, the 23XI Racing driver has a mountain to climb. He finds himself in a precarious position, 29 points below the playoff cutline, going into next week’s race at the Charlotte Roval. With nothing but a win at the road course that can salvage his season, the No. 45 Toyota driver has his work cut out at the Bank of America Roval 400.

But until then, Reddick will look back on the race in Kansas as a missed opportunity. The 29-year-old will undoubtedly be feeling frustrated at the mechanical issues, poor race strategy, and pit road trouble, which could prove to be the turning points that derailed his Cup Series campaign.

Tyler Reddick gives an honest assessment of the Kansas race

Tyler Reddick hit the pedal to the metal as soon as the green flag dropped. Thankfully, his No. 45 Toyota showed lightning-fast pace, and he quickly worked his way to the front, settling into the top five for much of Stage 1. However, tragedy struck when a caution was waved on Lap 55. Entering pit road, his crew had decided to put on scuff tires, but switched to sticker tires at the last moment after watching other teams. What followed was an issue in his car’s right rear, forcing the California native to return to pit road.

Since he was already returning, the No. 45 crew finally installed scuffs, but the damage was already done. Tyler Reddick came out in 26th place, missing out on valuable stage points. Sharing his thoughts with Bob Pockrass afterwards, he said, “It was a rebound for sure. Just didn’t get any stage points today, and we’re definitely good enough to do that. When that happens, you lose ground, and that’s what happened to us today.”

Reddick’s pit road troubles didn’t end even after Stage 1. Later on, his next stop included four new sticker tires, fuel, and pressure adjustment, but that proved to be chaotic, too. While attempting to enter his stall, Christopher Bell exited at the same time, forcing Reddick to back up and lose value track position again, restarting in 28th. However, he made amends in Stage 2 by steadily gaining track positions, but remained well below the cutline, finishing 14th.

From there, he methodically worked his way forward, even reaching fourth by Lap 260. But as luck would have it, the race went into overtime, taking away Tyler Reddick’s hopes of pushing for a win later on. When asked by Bob Pockrass if he had a shot at the end, the racer replied, “Man, it was gonna have to play out in a very specific way. Feel like I was about as good as who was ahead of me. You work hard to get that track position, and you know, you’re still climbing up before those cautions at the end.” Looks like it simply wasn’t meant to be.

Reddick tried to push Bubba Wallace into Victory Lane

As the laps ticked on, Tyler Reddick found himself in the mix once again, and he lined up behind teammate Bubba Wallace for the final restart. Hoping to play the role of a good teammate, the 29-year-old hoped to push the No. 23 Toyota to victory, and maybe set himself up for a shot as well. But Denny Hamlin managed to muscle past the Alabama-native, while Chase Elliott stole the win right at the end.

Opening up about helping out Bubba Wallace, Reddick said, “I just tried to give him the best push I could. I was really fortunate the previous restart that he was able to hold the lead. I don’t know, I tried to push him, and we just got separated. Obviously, I want to push him out, try to help him win, and then obviously keep the gap closed up to try to be in second and have a shot at it myself.”

Instead, Tyler Reddick was forced to settle for a seventh-place finish. While the result is a good one, given how his race progressed, it’s not good enough, considering his playoff circumstances. With one race remaining to salvage his season, the California-native knows what needs to be done, and said, “Yeah, obviously there’s only one thing we can do at Charlotte, and that’s what we’ll be focused on.” Do you think he’ll manage to get a clutch victory at the Bank of America Roval 400? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!