TOYOTA RACING – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
KANSAS CITY (April 18, 2026) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas Speedway.
This is Tyler Reddick’s third pole this season (COTA, Darlington). This is Toyota’s fifth pole in the last six races at Kansas Speedway.
Toyota swept the top-three in qualifying for the second time this season (Las Vegas).
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 SupplyHouse Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
What did you find in practice, and ultimately led you getting you the first starting spot tomorrow?
“Yeah, I think for us, we came here a year ago, and really struggled all weekend long, and that was a tough pill to swallow, for sure. We had felt like this has been kind of our playground for a number of years, and we came here this past spring, we just, I mean, start to finish on the whole weekend, just miss the mark pretty bad. So, when we came back here last fall, it was a huge emphasis for us, obviously, it’s in the playoffs and everything as well, at the time. We wanted to come back here with something better, and we didn’t need a lot of laps with the car that we had, but I felt like it was much more the direction where we needed to be. So, I was very happy with that, and we kind of used that as our starting point coming back here, and, yeah, for me, just today was just a car that had great handling, certainly the speed was there as well in the sheet, but very, very comfortable what I had. I feel like we did a good job of building off of last fall, and when you’re able to do that, you can be comfortable, consistent, and run good laps, and then when it comes to qualifying, you have the confidence to put a lap like that down.”
What is about you and your team’s ability to transfer the pole speed to race winning speed?
“Yeah, well, funny enough, I feel like if we were to qualify for Atlanta, even though we got the pole, didn’t count, whatever. We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta. COTA obviously I felt like the 12 (Ryan Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run. So, Darlington, same thing.
Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short run speed that we have is appears to be all there today.”
When you are in the car and doing a single lap how noticeable is the speed difference?
“It is very noticeable, certainly. You notice that, and that, you’re not going to lift. You feel it in just the amount of grip the car has, the track and the tires have at the cooler temperature, too. We were able to run, like, a 29.50-something in practice, and that’s a lot faster than normal practice pace. So that kind of got us ready for it, but yeah, we started seeing the speeds get down to where they did before we went. We knew that it was going take a big lap, and you just have to commit to doing it.”
What is the plan with pedal car?
“I’m going take it back home and put it with the other three pedal cars. I don’t really fit on it, but I got one for me, one for Beau, and one for Rookie, when he gets a little bigger. So we got a full fleet now.”
Do you feel any sense of relief that you continue to have speed?
“After today, yes, more relief. I did feel like we went to Vegas, and, unfortunately, just kind of missed the mark at a track, where I feel like we’ve typically been right there in that top five mix all day long, and so, that was a little concerning, but it was a good little, gut check for us on, okay, it was where we need to be. This is where we got to kind of stay within, and so to miss it like we did in Vegas, in my opinion. Then come back here, and correct – I know they’re a little bit different track wise, but the same kind of ideology goes into it, and for us to build off a last fall and then really nail it today, definitely makes us feel good. Whether it was Martinsville, I know we did have the screaming speed, but we ran better than we typically do, Bristol, we ran a lot better than we typically do, and then at our tracks that should be our strength, to be able to put together days like this, is promising. Makes us feel good.”
How do you not lose focus with the points lead that you have?
“Just one week at a time. I think that really helps, if you get too far ahead of yourself or let one bad moment snowball into a series of bad moments. That’s the biggest thing, is just one race, one stage at a time. I think certainly, on paper, I seem to be a pretty aggressive driver, appears that way, but, when you have to think about the entire season, and running smart races, and scoring points, you are not necessarily trying to hang on to the lead you have, but grow it and grow it smart throughout, throughout good races. So for me, the start we had is great, and I feel like we’re in a really good spot to be able to hopefully, with performances like today, translating to tomorrow, continue to grow the point lead.”
About Toyota
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