Tyler Reddick claims the 23X1 move has made his “commitment level” with RCR “probably is a little bit higher”
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Tyler Reddick on the podium after his Indy cup race win
Tyler Reddick remained calm and showed what he is capable of once again, this time at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the youngster drove his No:8 Richard Childress Racing Chevy Camaro ZL1 to the victory lane for the second win of the season and his career. The race marked the peak of consistency Reddick has shown in road courses this season as his maiden cup win came in Road America earlier this month.
The Californian’s win also came at a time when his relationship with the team is in limbo. Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick earlier this month announced that the latter will be moving to 23X1 Racing in 2024 after his contract with RCR runs out, which surprised and raised eyebrows of the NASCAR community as it came just days after his first win for RCR. Now Tyler Reddick has come forth expressing how the No:8 team remains committed and motivated even after the announcement.
Find out what Tyler Reddick said
Tyler Reddick acknowledged that nothing has really changed between him and the team from the announcement of his exit from RCR to 23X1 in a year and a half. He added that his commitment level has been a bit higher, though not a significant amount, following the announcement of the move from Chevy to Toyota.
“I mean, nothing had really changed from the announcement other than knowing where I’m going to be in the next year and a half. My commitment level, if anything, probably is a little bit higher, but I mean, we’re not talking like it’s a significant amount higher,” Tyler Reddick said.
Tyler Reddick went on to say that the No:8 team has the time to continue to work on their cars and make them better as a team to get in the right direction. He pointed out that the knowledge of the fact that the end of his time with RCR is coming has put more pressure on him to find more and produce on the track.
“I just know that we’ve had time to continue to work on our cars and make them better and grow as a team and go in the right direction, and now it’s like, all right, we have a hard stop. This is the end of the road that we have together. For me that puts, I think, a good amount of pressure on me to just keep finding more, because we’re always trying to bring the best that we can to the racetrack,” Tyler Reddick added.
Tyler Reddick added that having the exact knowledge of when his journey with RCR might probably end is an advantage for him which demands him to benefit from all the pressure that comes with it. He added that the situation has been pushing him and his crew to the last ounce to go for wins in every race.
“But when we know that the end is — it’s not really close, but we know when it’s going to be, we’ve got to take advantage of every single moment possible, and I hope, I feel like at least for me, it’s a good thing. I think it really makes me push hard, and I think it’s making the team push hard. We’re all working really hard together to give it every last ounce that we have out there and win as many races as we can,” Tyler Reddick explained.
Tyler Reddick went on to point out that it’s nearly nice to have two race wins and some playoff pints in the pocket as he hopes to continue winning in future road courses saying “It’s really nice we won two races this year. We got some good playoff points in our back pocket. We would like to win at other tracks other than road courses, but we’ll win where we can for now”
Tyler Reddick went on to add that the No:8 team has what it takes to win at the number of places as they are hard-working which gives him high hopes to win races and earn playoff points in future races. He added that the mentality and confidence of the team is in the right place going into the playoffs.
“We’ve certainly had the potential to win at a number of places, at a number of different places. We’ll just keep working really hard, and hopefully, in the coming weeks, we can win some more races, get some more playoff points and put our team, points speaking and mentally, confidence-wise, in a really good place going into the Playoffs,” added Tyler Reddick.
Also read: “Luck. I don’t know where we stacked up,” Bubba Wallace on finishing as the top Toyota at Indy
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Justin P Joy
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