Toyota GAZOO Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (September 27, 2025) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Are you nervous or excited to come to Kansas this week?
“I think it’s fairly nervous. We had a stretch here where it was a 23XI Toyota or a Toyota car in general, we had a pretty good record here to be able to win races. I look at the last two or three times we’ve been here we’ve been missing a little bit of something. The car changes, the Goodyear tires change, so naturally you’ve got to keep up with it. I think it’s fair to be nervous, there’s a lot that weighs on this weekend that its super important for us to either win or run top-five all day and score a lot of points.”
What has been the atmosphere at 23XI and Airspeed this week leading into the race?
“Everyone has had their head down for sure. It was a tough week, think we all know we got our asses kicked pretty good at Loudon and I feel like it’s motivated everyone properly. It’s easy to be down, but we have two opportunities to either win or score a lot of points. You look at other mile and-a-half tracks this year and we’ve brough cars capable of winning races at those tracks. It’s been since Charlotte Motor Speedway since we’ve had a true mile and-a-half race, so there’s been a lot of time for things to change, for people to catch up and people to fall behind. I think that just adds to the nerves of the weekend to see how we perform when we get to the racetrack.”
You seem to like the Roval course, are you an advocate for it staying or would you prefer to see the Charlotte oval for the playoffs?
“I’m really torn in the middle. I really enjoy what the Roval brings pressure wise to the drivers. I love that we get a road course in the playoffs and that it’s at home. When you also look at it from the other side, the intermediates have been typically our best races and racetracks over the last three or four years. Charlotte has become one of our better intermediate tracks as well. It’s just tough, it’s a great problem to have if you are NASCAR or Marcus Smith, if you are able to put on good racing at both the oval and the Roval. I think it’s going to be split, some drivers are going to like the oval more and other like the Roval more and same with the fans. We don’t need to race at Charlotte three times a year but we could race at the oval two times a year and then the Roval date. There are only some many weekends in the year, I guess.”
With the chances of Shane Van Gisbergen winning at the Roval next week, does that change your strategy at all?
“It’s a fair point. I wouldn’t say it’s a reason why I say we have to run top-five and score a lot of points because of Shane. He just adds to it, AJ (Allmendinger) adds to it as well. He’s going to be doing the same thing, they are both really good road course racers. That’s just part of it, if we are in that spot where we have to win so be it. We will do what we can to go out there and be the better driver.”
Based off what we saw at Loudon last week, would it be safe to say Team Penske is the championship favorite?
“What do you mean, now? (laughs). Their track record at Phoenix is hard to beat the last couple of years. More specifically with the 12 team (Ryan Blaney) and what they’ve been able to do at Martinsville over the years. Little things have changed here or there. This tire is a little bit different and see how it affects Phoenix when it gets closer and if we can catch up. We got our answer Sunday at Loudon, they just looked really strong.”
Would you be an advocate for going back to a 36-race points format?
“If I had to pick one I’m not sure which one I would pull for. Me growing up, that’s all I really knew as the season long format in other disciplines of racing. I’ve also been able to become a two-time champion through the format we use now. It’s probably not fair for me to say which one I would favor. As a competitor, it’s up to you to figure out a way to give yourself the best change to become a champion regardless of what the format is or going to be. There’s a way to go about each one. I feel like now, yes winning races is super important but the 15 playoff points you get as the regular season championship go back to that the traditional mindset of finishing those races like we did last year. No matter what the format is you have an opportunity for it to be really exciting.”
The last time you had a top-10 at Kansas was when you won here in 2023. Have frustrating does that become as a driver?
“It certainly will frustrate you, motivate you, make you scratch your head some. The positive for us seems like it’s something that typically is a challenge at Kansas specifically. I feel like since the years I won here, I’ve been able to go to other intermediates and similar style tracks. Other than Homestead, like Texas, Charlotte, Las Vegas and those tracks we’ve been able to go to those other mile and-a-halfs and have some speed. We should be able to figure this out where we are able to go to these other intermediate track types, and yes they are different, and do well. We just have to figure it out and hopefully our starting point this weekend is much more what we need. I think that was more of a point of frustration here in the spring. I walked away from practice being happier than I’ve ever been at a place like Kansas and then the race was a struggle. We just have to be on top of it and pay attention to our notes. Just try to make the best adjustments possible during the race.”
There was a video of jacking up the car during pit practice at the shop. How difficult was that for you and do you have a new appreciation for what those guys do?
“I’ve always had it. With the schedule I carry right now, there’s only a couple of days where I’m not in the training room with those guys as they are working out. I know what they are capable in the gym and I know what they are capable on the pit pad at Airspeed. My only complaint is I wished they would have posted that sooner because that was a couple of months ago. We are working on making some progress on that, maybe it’s something I can post in the winter.
How rare is it when you feel like things go well in practice, but it doesn’t translate to the race?
“My first year at 23XI and throughout the year last year at times, I feel like Bubba (Wallace) and myself would show up to a racetrack and be top-four in practice and things look great. But it would see like things would just slide in the wrong direction as the track rubbered in and lose performance throughout the race. We’ve done a better job of leveling that out a bit, it’s just sometimes in practice that’s a thing that can happen but it’s on us to figure out why that happens and pick up on things to not let that happen. We’ve done a good job of that, but that race here in the spring was one where we struggled. It’s a part of racing that sometimes can happen, these cars are very sensitive to inputs and just traffic and all those things. It’s easy to think you are going to have something for the race and it can rear its ugly head and be a problem. You just got to be really mindful in practice of your balance regardless of how you do in practice.”
Provided you don’t win tomorrow, is there a point difference going into the Roval that would make you feel comfortable that you can overcome it by points only?
“I really haven’t ran through that yet, but I’m almost positive the last two season we’ve gone into the Roval below the cutline. You never want to go into that race in that position, but you don’t want to go into that race in a tricky spot. My gut would say even if we are outside by ten points, it’s doable. Sitting where we are minus 23 points outside, that’s a pretty hard number to overcome. That’s counting on other not getting stage points. Would love to win and not worry about this next week, but we’ve been able to overcome a deficit twice over the last few years. That does give me confidence.”
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