“It’s a Bummer!” Tyler Reddick Disappointed as Denny Hamlin’s Three-Peat Threatens his Championship Hopes

After Tyler Reddick won five races from nine starts in 2026, showcasing absolute dominance, many in the NASCAR community thought no-one can really give the 23XI Racing driver a challenge for the championship. But his boss Denny Hamlin has proven everyone wrong by earning his 4^th win of the season at Pocono, and reducing the gap to just 19 points.

The 23XI driver was beyond disappointed knowing the absolute advantage he had no-longer there. Talking to the media after the race on Sunday, the veteran admitted that he is looing forward to the upcoming road course races at San Diego and Sonoma, where he might be able take back the advantage to redeem himself.

Yeah, it is. It was nice while it lasted, I guess, to be in that spot where we didn’t have to hurt ourselves in the following stage by going for the stage points. We’ll see how it plays out at San Diego and Sonoma. Billy [Scott] and (everyone) are going to have some tough decisions to make when it comes to strategy at the stage ends, who is going to go for what.

Tyler Reddick said.

Denny Hamlin had a disadvantage on non-oval tracks, while Tyler Reddick can be considered as the second best behind Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. But still the No:11 team has the momentum and, on their day can be competitive at any venues. So, the 23XI driver is in a tough spot going into next week.

We’ll see how it goes. If we do a good job of bringing good speed to San Diego, like we bring to the Chicago street course, we should put ourselves in position to hopefully net even or gain a little bit of ground… Yeah, it’s a bummer. I mean, if (Denny Hamlin) wasn’t the winner, you could consider this a good day. Thirty-five points just aren’t enough right now.

Tyler Reddick added via RACER.com.

Tyler Reddick laments missed opportunity on Sunday

Earlier talking about the same topic, the Toyota driver highlighted how solid they were at Pocono, earning them a P2 finish. But there were some issues that still needs to be addressed if they wants to get back to performing on the same level as they used to.

I wish it was a nice back in the top five day, but all things considered, still lost a good amount of ground again. There were a couple of areas of the race where things didn’t go the way we wanted them to, and I think that certainly played a role in the outcome.

Tyler Reddick said.

He pointed out that they had the right strategy and pace to prove themselves on Sunday. But they failed to place them in the right track position to take advantage of it, till the final laps where Hamlin had the race under control.

But in some ways, it was really nice for us to do the strategy the way that we did, we passed a lot of cars in the end, but when you get that close…We’ve got good speed in our Supply House Toyota Camry; just didn’t really get an opportunity to show it until the end of the race.

Tyler Reddick added.

If the No:45 team can widen the points gap to beyond 60-70 points in the coming two weeks, he would be the favorite to win the regular season championship. But if he fails to do so, Hamlin most probably would overtake him on the standing before the 26^th race of 2026.

Also Read: Heather Gibbs Breaks Silence on Denny Hamlin Retirement Debates Amidst Career Peak Form