Darlington Raceway (Darlington, S.C.) — Tyler Reddick had to gut out a race-winning performance in a hot race car without some of the creature comforts because of an ailing electrical system that wouldn’t charge Sunday afternoon.
When you have basketball icon Michael Jordan as your boss and watching you race, it is probably best not to complain and do everything you can to win. Reddick did that, as he shut down all of his driver cooling systems in the race car for the final portion of the race, where he rallied to lead the final 28 laps and earn his fourth victory just six races into the season.
“He kept his composure, and he did an unbelievable job,” Jordan said in his FS1 interview.
Reddick didn’t even know that Jordan was at the track (Jordan often comes in just shortly before the green flag).
“It’s funny. I didn’t know Michael was there until I saw him on the frontstretch [celebrating],” Reddick said in his post-race news conference. “Y’all got to see him all day, but I didn’t know he was there.
“So I’m even more glad I decided to gut it out, honestly.”
Here are my takeaways:
Tyler Reddick got win No. 4 at Darlington on Sunday.
1: Reddick Stout
Reddick won the pole. And he likely would have led most of the race if he didn’t have the electrical issue, which required the team to replace the battery under caution. He also had a slow pit stop at another point in the race.
Why was he so fast? Here are the answers from the drivers who finished second and third and his team owner.
Brad Keselowski (second) told me and other reporters: “Tyler is a great driver. You shouldn’t take anything away from that. But they’re clearly up on horsepower and downforce right now, and he’s making that count. So he deserves a lot of credit.”
Ryan Blaney (third) told me and other reporters: “He just goes faster. I wish I could point something out, but he’s just faster, and Tyler is an amazing race-car driver. Always has been, and they’ve got it going on over there right now.”
Denny Hamlin (co-owner/driver) in the winning team post-race news conference: “He was faster on the entry, the middle and the exit [of the turn]. I do not know. … I’ll study it and try to learn something from it because clearly they got it figured out.”
23XI team co-owner Michael Jordan celebrates after Reddick’s win at Darlington.
2: RFK Second-Best
The RFK Racing drivers were pleased with their strength, except for the fact that they couldn’t match Reddick.
Keselowski led a race-high 142 laps and Chris Buescher led 41 laps. Buescher was leading when he opted to pit, but Reddick didn’t see him slow down and got into the back of him.
“It’s racing. At the end of that is trying to make an aggressive call to get pit road, kind of last second,” Buescher told me and other reporters.
Reddick also had contact with Keselowski when he passed him for the lead but Keselowski couldn’t complain: “I was doing all I could to make his life hell, and he was so much faster. It didn’t matter. That’s how it goes.”
Buescher finished ninth and Ryan Preece was 13th.
At one point, the RFK drivers were running first, second and third.
“I wish we could have finished that way,” Keselowski said. “Tyler was in a class of his own.”
Brad Keselowski commended Reddick on running a great race.
3: Blaney Rebounds Well
Blaney had an issue early in the race where he had a loose wheel and had to have it tightened in a teammate’s pit box. The penalty for that is to restart at the tail of the field.
The Team Penske driver rallied to finish third.
“I’m proud of us keeping our head down all day and finishing where we did,” Blaney said. “I thought the 45 [of Reddick] was probably the best guy by a little bit. And then I thought me and the 6 [of Keselowski] were pretty close, right behind him. I think the three of us were kind of the class of the field, and those three finished top three. So I was just happy that we got back to where we did.”
Blaney managed a third-place finish, despite a penalty for a loose wheel.
4: Hocevar Happy
Carson Hocevar started at the back of the field and finished fourth in a race where he didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stage.
Hocevar didn’t have any drama and got the best finish for his situation. He started from the rear of the field because the team had a change a suspension piece after qualifying, which is important as he continues to try to establish himself. He also was driving a Dale Earnhardt tribute scheme.
“To go from last to fourth, I don’t know how I could do much more,” Hocevar told me and other reporters. “There’s a lot of pressure when you run this scheme. I just wanted to give it a good run. Mission accomplished.”
Carson Hocevar was satisfied with his fourth-place finish.
4 ½: What’s Next
The Cup Series heads to Martinsville, the shortest oval on the circuit at 0.526 miles.
The good news for the competition? Martinsville isn’t one of Reddick’s best tracks.
“If I can win there? Oh, my gosh, the world is going to end,” Reddick said.
