Toyota GAZOO Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CHARLOTTE (August 27, 2025) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Wednesday as part of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
How does your Playoff experience last year change your mental approach for the Playoffs this year?
“I think it’s just experience. Yeah, for me, I was on the good side of it last year. I’ve done this a few times. Coming in with very little Playoff points so it’s just all experience. Last year was a little nicer one, right? Because we were able to have those Playoff points to fall back on. It seemed like even though we had them in each round, we found our way into trouble. So, I think this time around we’ve got to be much more on top of it. We don’t have that much room for error but that’s okay. There are some good tracks. Obviously, Darlington is a great one to start at. There’s a lot of good tracks in the Playoffs for this team I think.”
Has the team gone over strengths and weaknesses this season?
“Yeah, we did that. Got to look at a lot of numbers and a lot of things. I don’t know if it helped. I think it added to the frustration. Even more reason for a reset going into the Playoffs, if you will.”
What stood out to you?
“Well, I mean honestly, it has the feeling from my vantage point that the speed just wasn’t quite the same. Obviously, the execution we all know is not great. Looking at everything that we have, the speed seems pretty good. Yeah, just when you look at pace and everything that we have versus our finishing position, not many in the field are worse. We’ve just really got to take advantage of fast Toyota Camrys and get top fives and win races especially here in each of these rounds.”
How do you go and win a championship this year?
“Pretty much don’t do what we did the first 26 races (laughter). We’ve been in a position to win and lose, we just – don’t take ourselves out. Yeah, there’s plenty of things on a more serious note to go over and look at how we’ve been doing things. Everyone on the team has been looking into that, working hard, reflecting. And, yeah, the word reset has been thrown around a lot today. I feel like that’s a good way for us to look at it as well. Yeah, we’ve had a tough regular season. Yes, we’re behind the cut line and everything else but the points margins are all closed up quite a bit with the Playoff seeding. We’ve just got to go out there and do what we’ve been capable of all year – just do it this time.”
Where is the confidence to put the regular season behind you and say you know you can do this?
“For me, going to Darlington to start really helps because that’s a track for me that even when I like just can’t even function as a driver we still manage to run somewhere in the top 10. I feel like over the years that’s a place that when we’re strong we’re upfront, we’re leading laps and when we’re a little off we’re still in the top 10 and top five. So, for me, that’s just been one of those tracks just whether it’s the spring race or the Southern 500, it’s just a really good track for me.”
Do you like the way the Playoffs are setup?
“I’m just thinking about the first race honestly. Gateway, yeah Gateway I think we’re good at when we don’t have brake failures. Bristol is the one if I’m looking at the whole Playoffs, is kind of the question mark. We haven’t had race-winning speed there in a bit. It’s a place we know we got to get better, but yeah, I know I don’t always show up in Martinsville it seems like and perform the level Bubba (Wallace) does but it’s obvious that our Camrys are good when we go to Martinsville. Yeah, when I look at a lot of the tracks that we have on the remainder, they all look good. It’s just Bristol. I’ve got to figure out how to run top 10 there.”
Is this one of the most frustrating and stressful seasons that you’ve had?
“You know, if I let myself think about it like that, I’m sure I could find reasons as to why it would be. I mean, the results, right. The speed, the capability looks like it’s there but the results – we have found a way to throw some away. Yeah, you know, I think it would be but when you come into the Cup Series as a rookie it’s real easy to just let the weight of everything just crush you. Yeah, it’s not as bad as that to there’s that at least.”
What do you feel is your biggest strength and biggest weakness over the next 10 races?
“Our speed is our strength. What’s been our weakness is the execution. We haven’t got the results on those days where we’ve been that fast. Whether that’s DNF or damage and finishing laps down, it seems when you look at this year when we’ve been fast and leading laps, we’ve found a way to not be on the lead lap by the end of it.”
How much different is your setup for the Southern 500 compared to the spring race?
“The weather’s different. The transition from day to night is where you try to really trust your notes, have good notes. My crew chief Billy Scott’s got a lot of experience – done this race many, many times. We’ve done this race a few times together too. You just really try to do your best to trust your instincts but also go off of what you know has happened in the past. Yeah, it seems like over the years spring to fall we’ve been pretty good both times. I’m just looking forward to getting there honestly.”
Where would a Southern 500 win rank for you?
“I guess technically I don’t think I’ve won a major. I won at Indy when we ran the road course there, so I think it’d shoot to the top for sure.”
Who was the driver that you looked up to on the track when you first started out in Cup?
“I think it was Jimmie (Johnson) and then literally 15 minutes later we were wrecking coming to pit road for the first green flag cycle so that was an awful way to start it.”
What do you think of the idea that someone coming up through racing could look at you the way you thought about Jimmie Johnson?
“I feel like those moments are creeping up on me sooner than I want them to. It’s funny you bring this up, Luke Barnes is a part of the pit development group at 23XI, and his father Lanny was my engine tuner. He’s still at ECR. But I remember going racing in the 2 car in the Xfinity Series and Lanny was obviously engine tuning back then more so and his son came to the race track a few times and when I talked to Lanny a couple weeks ago, he’s like, ‘Yeah, my son’s over there now.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, he is.’ Then I’m like, ‘Last time I saw him he was a kid. He was 12 and now he’s 21.’ He’s talking about, ‘Oh yeah, that was so long ago when you won those championships.’ I feel the gray hairs coming. So, yeah, it’s crazy how time moves quick and yeah there’s a kid that I’ll probably meet at the race track that one day might be coming for my job. You never know.”
What kind of impact has your group had?
“I haven’t really given it a lot of thought – you are putting me on the spot (laughter). It is crazy to think about as time goes on. Always growing up racing, I was always the young kid racing against adults and stuff. I guess I’m getting to 30 – and there are younger guys. Connor (Zilisch) is coming up and he is a teenager. The older you get the more you realize those things are in play and going on. I think for me it just drives it home more so to just remember, as a kid, I was just trying to get Steve Kinser’s autograph. I was trying to meet Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Always try to keep that in mind at the race track when kids want an autograph or wanting a picture or want to talk to you. That impact you leave on the next generation is super important.”
What kind of impact can your generation have?
“I think about where I came from. I came from dirt racing – Kyle (Larson) did as well. I grew up racing Outlaw Karts like he did. I think it is cool that I got to do a lot of learning racing dirt Late Models with Hall of Famers, guys like Bobby Pierce – who is a friend of mine. He is going to be a future Hall of Famer for sure. It is cool to be able to say and represent the ranks of where you came from, so for me, I try to be mindful of that when I have good, bad or indifferent races – I came from some of the toughest dirt racing ranks that you can, and those guys in dirt Late Models are some of the best, smart, intense drivers. I try to be mindful of that and keep up with that as much as I can.”
What is it about the region where you’re from that has some of the toughest racers out there?
“For me, it was Cycleland (Speedway). It was Outlaw Karts. During the winter we got to race at Red Bluff, but just the places that we could go run those Outlaw Karts growing up – we had Cycleland in summer, Red Bluff we would race occasionally; we would go race up at Lakeport. My dad was crazy; he drove all over the place. There was just a lot of really good tracks out there and a lot of really young kids at that time racing in all of the different classes, so I just felt like the blueprint of a go-kart, starting out young with the Briggs Stratton, then getting into the 125, 250, 500 – all of that power in a go-kart with a wing, and running on dirt tracks with cushions and slicked off middle grooves. The level of racing that we were doing in those Outlaw Karts at a young age set us down that path and being able to jump into midgets and Sprint Cars, mini-sprints, late models and be competitive.”
That set you up for success at Homestead, but you didn’t get the respect that you deserve.
“I had my own faults for that – I played into it. It wasn’t the best year that I had when I got my head on straight and put together a good stretch, it finally showed what that team was capable of all year long, that first year. When I moved over to RCR (Richard Childress Racing), and started from scratch, if you will, there, I was in a much better place.”
So, to have Homestead as the finale next year, you were probably one of the happiest guys out there?
“Yeah, absolutely.”
What is it about Darlington that seems to work well?
“Don’t take this the wrong way – I think it is all of its little imperfections that make it perfect. All of the little details and that the wall isn’t just perfectly smoothed out. It has waves in certain spots. The holes, the bumps, the seams, the patches that they’ve had to put in over the years. All of the little things that add up to a really tricky, tough race track to get around. I think – nowadays, all of these tracks are built – they try to have them perfectly flat, smoothed out, and yes, they are great race tracks, but a place like Darlington – it’s been there as long as it has. It has a lot of character. It has a lot of things that a track, if it was built today, wouldn’t have. I think for me, that is what makes it so great.”
Why does it work for you?
“Well, if I miss the bottom, I just try to move up. I just keep moving up until I find competitive lap time and at a place like Darlington, yeah, pretty much after lap two or three, you are pretty much at the top ripping. For me, it is my comfort zone, honestly.”
Do you feel like 23XI is treated fairly with the legal issues?
“Yeah.”
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