“It’s a Real Bummer!” Tyler Reddick Heartbroken as Denny Hamlin Takes Significant Championship Lead at Chicago

After Tyler Reddick won five races, including a three-peat, many thought the 23XI Racing driver will dominate rest of the year. But his boss Denny Hamlin had another plan, as he secured four wins including his own three-peat to earn the points lead. After a P3 finish last Sunday at Chicagoland, the No:11 driver is 44-points ahead of the No:45 driver in the championship table.

Reddick race was ruined by a busted radiator, earning him just P36 finish, in a car that was clearly faster, considering teammate Bubba Wallace finished inside the top-10, if not for the mechanical issues. He is really disappointed with the fact that issues with the car has destroyed their chances for the second straight week.

I hate it for everyone at 23XI; back-to-back weeks of uncertain things just coming our way. It sounds like we ran over a splitter stay or something like that, but it just absolutely destroyed the radiator and the oil cooler.

Tyler Reddick said at Chicago.

The 23XI driver admitted that he is more disappointed about the Chicago result compared to the week before, as his Toyota Camry was getting better before things went south. Tyler Reddick was hoping to have good day, even with a damaged car, before the TRD machine bailed on him.

It’s a real bummer; I felt like we were just finally starting to get the handling turned around on our Toyota Camry and were starting to inch away at it. It felt like it was shaping up to be a good night, even with the damage and everything it did.

Tyler Reddick via racer.com.

Further talking about the point, the star racer asserted that he is in a survival mode at the moment, as the season is balancing out following the flying start, he had. Instead of finishing at the back, he should’ve grinded out more mid-pack finishes during the tough streak, to keep his title hopes alive.

I guess the year is balancing itself back out, but we’ve got all the right things that we need to succeed; we’ve just got to survive some of these races, I guess.

Tyler Reddick said.

It would’ve been a nightmare for Tyler Reddick if not for Denny Hamlin’s mistake

The points gap would have been much bigger, if Denny Hamlin hadn’t made some mistake on the restarts and towards the end of the race, he might’ve won the race over teammate Chase Briscoe. Hamlin himself admitted it while talking to the media post-race, admitting he was forced to settle for P3.

I thought I was in control early on, even though I wasn’t leading. I felt in control and probably got a little lazy on some restarts and things like that – just taking for granted that I’ll just go up there and get it… We just lost the balance there in Stage 3. I got loose, lost ground, lost a couple of seconds… I just pushed it too far into the wall there with a few laps to go and had to settle for third.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the star driver are on point and shows how there is still some luck in the side of Reddick, amidst the nightmarish period. It would be interesting to see how the upcoming race weeks are going to playout for the duo and if one of them can secure the maiden championship win in the Next-Gen era for Toyota.

Also Read: “You’re Getting the Death Penalty!” Denny Hamlin Slams Shane van Gisbergen Over Outrageous Austin Hill Chicago Wreck