TOYOTA RACING – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DARLINGTON, SC (September 5, 2026) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday after being awarded the pole by the metric due to inclement weather for the NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway.
This is the eighth time Reddick has started first this season – five based on qualifying speed and three on the metric. He has won four of his five races this season from the first starting position.
Since joining 23XI, Reddick has started in the top-10 in every race at Darlington, including starting first on three different occasions (2024 Spring, 2026 Spring and this weekend.)
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Chumba Casino Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
What was your afternoon like?
“So we failed (inspection) the first time through, and since we failed last week at Daytona, first time through as well, we were at the back of the queue for cars going around for the second time. So, when we had the first lightning hold, we had passed, but we were waiting to get shocks on, all that sort of stuff. So we were kind of stuck there a bit, and when it cleared up for a little bit there, we had just got to pit road, got done with the warm-up. We were probably, I don’t even know, 20 seconds away from rolling when they called it. We were just a little bit behind, just having to wait the first lightning hold out. So, I fired it up, but I didn’t even move. That’s okay. I was pretty happy last time I was here.”
How do you feel with no practice and qualifying?
“Even better. Like best case scenario for us. Yeah, it’s pretty sick.”
Is it really all that exciting to start from the pole, knowing you can come through the back after your experience in the Spring?
“It is nice, but after I get through turn two, that first time I’ll feel better about it. Obviously, last year’s race, that is when it decided to fail, that first lap. So, if I get to turn two and my voltage hasn’t dropped out, I’ll be feeling pretty good. But until then, I’m just going to obviously wait and see how things go, but interestingly enough for us, we obviously won the race, but we spent a lot of the time in the race in the pack, trying to get around traffic, and we knew what we had for speed, that obviously helped us get back to the front, but yeah, I only had those first 25, 30 laps or so. I can’t remember how long we ran on that first stage in the spring. That was really the only true gauge of clean air that I had last Spring, so hopefully, we have that longer, and can just stay on top of our adjustments and keep our car really happy.”
Was there any part of you that said I really would have liked to get in a few laps of practice?
“No, it’s literally best case scenario for us. We were so strong here last spring. Ironically enough, as I kind of got going in Cup racing, it was during COVID, and there was no practice at all, and I kind of got very used to just having to figure it out the first corner, and so for me, in general, I feel within a really good spot most weekends when this happens, and we just have to unload and race, but beyond that, with as strong as we were, obviously, I think, you can imagine teams wanting to try things and see if they close the gap, or what that all looks like, right? And no one really, no one had any kind of opportunity at all with that today. So, if anything, it just helps us even more. I could be wrong. We could not be where we want to be at the start of the race, but, I mean, yeah, with how we ran last spring, just, we were rock solid, and I expect more of the same.”
Why do you think you’re so good winning from pole?
“I can’t I can’t handle a bad day, clearly (laughter). We’ve seen our summer stretch (laughter). No. Well, we start from the pole, but like the race at Echo Park was not very normal. It wasn’t like we dominated. COTA was a bit more straightforward. I felt back a bit there, but we still won. Did I do it at Kansas, too? I guess I did there too, so it really makes it look like we started front and stay up front, but a lot of those wins were not that way. Hopefully for us tomorrow night it is. We would be all for fighting our way from the back like we did the last time we were here, but, it would be so nice for this whole team if we just had like a calm, smooth day, if you will. We’re not having to go from the back to the front so we can really – just be super nice to have a calm, normal day. I was feeling good about that anyways, coming into this race, because typically, if we find a way to do that anyways, so I don’t know. It is funny, though. It does on paper look like we start front and finish up front. But a lot of races haven’t been that way.”
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