TOYOTA RACING – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
SAN DIEGO (June 19, 2026) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Pala Casino Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Tell us about your initial thoughts about being here at Naval Base Coronado
“It’s beautiful. Got to meet a lot of friendly people that are stationed here that are very excited to watch us race here on the base. It was earlier in the day at San Diego Zoo running into people over there that live here or are here on base. Just a lot of positivity. Excited to get on the race track and try and figure this out. So far, beautiful views and excited to be here.”
What is your initial reactions to what we’ve seen on track before you practice for the Cup Series?
“The approach was already going to be fairly conservative. You want to push the issues and learn, but I think it’s important to understand out there what areas you can push those issues without ending your practice early. I saw a number of trucks and O’Reilly cars catching the wall, and pretty much the end of your day. For those guys they may not have an opportunity to qualify later on. I would say the implications are big no matter the series. That’s going to be the biggest thing, it’s going to be super important to find the limits early. You have to go about it in a very smart and calculated way. There are a number of corners you don’t necessarily want to play around with, but it certainly seems like the surface in a number of areas is slick and grippy and some areas wore out, it will be very challenging in the race car what the limits are around the race track. Everyone is curious to see what the pace evolution is as we continue to rubber it in and how much it will pick up.”
How challenging will it be to be able to race Sunday without having the ideal line like during qualifying so you can navigate and make passes?
“I feel like a number of us who have had the opportunity to race at the Chicago Street Course have somewhat of an idea of that. I think that will be an ongoing process on Sunday. I would imagine the whole field will be careful to start and then more and more aggression will follow as we run. Just watching it seems like it’s easy to miss your marks and have a slip up as it is by yourself. That’s certainly been on my mind, what turn 1 and 2 is going to look like, even (turn) 3 side-by-side. That’s something I’ll be thinking about as we go through this practice, what all that would look like. I would imagine you will have to tip toe your way through there pretty carefully.”
With Denny (Hamlin) closing in on your in points and knowing you run well on road courses with two of those races in back-to-back weeks, what will be your approach for here and Sonoma?
“No matter the points day we had before now, we come into here setting ourselves up to try and win. Now we have to weigh those decisions, whether that’s when we get going in the race on Sunday or even make that decision tonight or depending on how qualifying goes. It’s something that we are going to be aware of. We have a car good enough and have the speed to continue to contend for the race win, we are going to do that. If we are not where we want to be, I think we can be honest with ourselves and change up our strategy for Sunday.”
What will it be like to drive past an aircraft carrier?
“That will be really cool. I would say the first lap we go out there and getting everything warmed up and feel the grip level before we start our first lap, I’ll probably be checking things out. But after that I will need to stay focused. That turn 3 braking zone is going to be difficult. Hopefully nobody gets distracted by the aircraft carrier during the race but it’s quite the sight in front of you, that’s for sure.”
Is there anything you would like to see NASCAR to change about the course from what you have seen so far?
“All I’ve done is really walk it. From my standpoint, I really haven’t had a chance to talk to any of the Truck or O’Reilly series drivers. I think just the nature of a street course, there’s only so much you can do. You move a little bit of this or a little bit of that. You’re probably going to have the same issue regardless. I will see if there’s anything after practice if there’s a spot or two that they might change it, but it’s hard to say at this point. Think we all understand that this is a street course, there’s not a lot of room for runoff. There are certain areas in the racetrack that has some room and others it’s just as much room as possible. It’s just the nature of it as a driver, you have to be smart and intentional with your risk versus reward.”
How much of your time in the SIM before this weekend be beneficial knowing the course wasn’t put together until this week?
“Certainly a benefit. I haven’t been able to watch timing and scoring from Trucks or O’Reilly, but I’ve heard some of the chatter that there’s a decent amount of falloff over the course of a tire right. Obviously Trucks and O’Reilly definitely have more than the Cup cars do. Definitely curious to see how it relates to our stuff. It’s part of it, when we would go to Chicago walls would be a little bit of a different place than we were expecting as well. It’s just something as a driver you understand coming into it, I certainly did, to tell myself the last couple of weeks getting ready for this event to just be ready for anything. You’re ready to change your mindset or your marks as the track speeds up and as things change during the weekend.”
Is it important to you to win a NASCAR race in your home state of California?
“It’s certainly important. Years ago, we would go to Fontana, that would really come to mind there. Unfortunately, we no longer get to race there. That’s one in particular that eats at me never getting the win there and not going back. Between here and in Sonoma with Sonoma being a bit closer, I would love to win in my home state. We got to figure out if we are going to have the speed to contend for the win or it’s going to be about getting points. That’s just the tricky thing about where we are at. Over the years we’ve gone to the Roval and would have loved to go for the race win, but have been in a spot where you have to go after points. We will see where land going into Sunday’s race and if we are close enough we will hopefully be racing for the race win.”
Will you have any extra friends and family attend Sonoma next week?
“Some members of my family on my dad’s side get a RV and hang out, so will get to see them, which is nice. Every time we go up there it’s beautiful, we get to see some people. These next two week being out here, we are going to soak it in the best we can.”
Is there some enjoyment about coming to races for the first time and doing something different?
“I certainly think so. Sometimes you get used to the routine. I think of a number of tracks we go to where you land and you go straight to the track whether you are with your family or not. There’s a number of tracks you go to where you take it for granted where you are at and what you are doing, so coming here for the first time and seeing everything that is San Diego and Coronado has been fun. You think, where do I start? What is there to do while we are here? I’m certainly enjoying that. I think leading into it with everyone there’s a little bit of stress about where to go and how we are going to get there, but now that we are here I’m just really enjoying it.”
How do you prepare for the whole front wheels coming off the ground in a spot here?
“Hold your breath, I don’t know. Maybe I will ask Riley (Herbst), he’s done some of that racing growing up. My dirt race growing up, it was never good to leave the ground so we’ll see. Hang on. I’m excited to see what that sensation is like. Hopefully our car does leave the ground at least once or twice”
What has it been like have Pala on your car this weekend?
“This is a big race for them, they are right down the road. It’s really an awesome opportunity to have them on the car and be working with them this weekend. I’ve seen the signage walking into the track and the displays they have in the fan zone. It’s a big weekend for them and I want to do everything I can do for them as a driver to bring them the best result possible. Got to go to the San Diego Zoo and spend some time down there and got to take the family there as well and see some cool animals and certain species that are endangered was a lot of fun. My son’s reactions to some of them and my youngest Rookie was a lot of fun.”
Are you planning on stopping at any of your old dirt tracks you raced out here in California before Sonoma weekend next week?
“That’s the tricky part, where we are in Sonoma as opposed to where I raced is a couple of hours further north. Will see how the weekend goes while we are there and if I have a day that ends up being free, but maybe we will take a road trip and check it all out. It is a bit difficult right now, it’s hard to expect Rookie to sit in the car for a couple of hours and not be upset. Maybe a few years down the road when he gets a bit older we will be able to take those long road trips.”
What is the role of spotters here?
“Me and Nick (Payne, spotter) got to see where some of the spotter locations were throughout the lap. It seems like the visibility in certain sections are going to be limited. We’ll essentially take it a lot at a time in practice and just kind of understand what the role of spotters are going to be. We’ll just take it one lap at a time and myself and Nick and the rest of the team will debrief about it afterwards.”
How challenging is it for a driver to not have as much help from spotters?
”It’s tricky to figure out sometimes. We’ll discuss how the weekend goes and the role might be just to see what’s up ahead, depending on what they have and what section they are in. It will be something we can figure out after we get through practice here.”
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