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  • Tyler Reddick earns top 10 at Charlotte, moves into playoff contention

    Tyler Reddick earns top 10 at Charlotte, moves into playoff contention

    After qualifying fifth, rookie Tyler Reddick scored an eighth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday night in his No. 8 Richard Childress Chevrolet.

    This continues a strong showing since the season resumed at Darlington Raceway where he finished seventh and 13th giving him two top-10 finishes and a top-15 in the last three races. It also moved him to 16th place in the standings, the cutoff for inclusion into the Playoffs.

    The Richard Childress Racing driver spoke about his goals last week as he looked ahead to Charlotte.  

    “We’re right on the bubble (for 16-member playoff) so I’m going to stay focused and try to stay inside the top 16 or go for a win. That’s going to be my focus,” he said. “We probably could have had a top 10 (on Wednesday) if the race would have gone back to green (after Elliott’s crash), but we fought back from being as far back as 30th and when you’re running against the best of the best you’re not going to pass them all.”

    Mission accomplished.

    At the conclusion of the Coca-Cola 600, Reddick said, “I’m proud of the effort our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team gave tonight. We fought hard all night to make our car better, and we took a gamble at the end, which almost paid off for us. The track just didn’t do quite what I hoped it would do tonight, but we still found a way to get a top 10 out of the race.”

    While making the Playoffs may seem unlikely for the 24-year-old in his first season in the series, he is no stranger to winning. He has earned two Xfinity Series championships, one with JR Motorsports in 2018 and one with RCR last year.

    Reddick is also aware that he has much to learn but is determined to make the most of each opportunity.

    “I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help with our long run handling and speed. This is definitely a finish we can build on; 400 laps and 600 miles are done, and we’ll be ready to come back on Wednesday night.”

    The Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway Wednesday night for the Alsco Uniforms 500 at 8 p.m. on FS1.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Rookies Reddick, Nemechek notch career-best results at Darlington

    Rookies Reddick, Nemechek notch career-best results at Darlington

    When the green flag waved and 40 of NASCAR’s elite made their first Cup Series start since the first week of March, seven made their first premier series start at Darlington Raceway, (six were rookies). When the checkered flag waved, two were able to not only survive the tricky, distinct-shaped corners of the 1.366-mile surface. They earned strong top-10 results in their season-long quest for the Rookie-of-the-Year title: Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek.

    For Reddick, the speed was displayed on track for the California native and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team through the first four races of his rookie Cup campaign. It was only a matter of sealing a satisfactory performance with a satisfactory result. Starting 29th on a random draw for Sunday’s race at Darlington, the former Xfinity Series champion wasted no time working his way methodically toward the front against NASCAR’s elite. He finished eighth in the first stage to earn additional bonus points toward the playoffs and ran inside the top 10 for the majority of the race.

    Then, a near disaster moment occurred on Lap 153, when a piece of ad debris from a banner wall in Turn 3 caught the right-front end of Reddick’s Chevrolet after being previously struck by eventual winner Kevin Harvick. It also remained stuck on Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer’s cars for a handful of laps. The debris remained on Reddick’s car for another lap before the event’s sixth caution flag was displayed. Under the pit stop, Reddick’s crew was able to remove the debris, but he restarted at the rear of the field due to a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    Despite the miscue, the driver of RCR’s No. 8 Chevrolet was able to utilize the horsepower to work his way back inside the top 10, where he remained for the rest of the race despite enduring two restarts in the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Reddick notched a career-best seventh-place in his seventh Cup start.

    The performance was the best for a rookie candidate at Darlington since Erik Jones finished fifth in 2017 and Kyle Larson finished eighth in 2014. It also marked Reddick’s second top-10 career result, his first since finishing ninth at Kansas in May 2019, and it gave him a resourceful insight in improving for the next Darlington event while maintaining his consistency for the remainder of his rookie season.

    While Reddick was beaming about his performance, so, too, was John Hunter Nemechek on a day where he turned his uneventful day of lemons into lemonade. Nemechek started his day in 34th and the majority of his race was mired with handling issues. After posting finishes in the high-20s from the first two stages, Nemechek’s race started to improve in the final stage, where he utilized consistency to work his way inside the top 15. Over the course of the final two restarts, Nemechek moved into the top 10 and was able to outrun Matt Kenseth to finish ninth for his first top-10 result in his eighth Cup start.

    The last time a Front Row Motorsports operation finished in the top 10 was when Michael McDowell finished fifth at Talladega in October 2019. This, however, marked the team’s first top-10 result on a non-superspeedway result since Chris Buescher finished fifth at Bristol in August 2016 and their 20th career top-10 result. The result gave the third-generation driver from Mooresville, N.C., something to smile about and scan ahead for improvement toward the upcoming races in his rookie season.

    The remaining rookies that include Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Brennan Poole and Quin Houff finished 22nd, 24th, 27th and 36th, respectively. Josh Bilicki, who made his first Cup start at Darlington, finished 34th.

    The NASCAR Cup Series rookie class along with the veterans will return for a second race at Darlington Raceway on May 20 followed by Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24.

  • Opinion: Second XFINITY title for Reddick a harbinger of what’s to come in Cup career

    Opinion: Second XFINITY title for Reddick a harbinger of what’s to come in Cup career

    To be fair, two championships in a feeder division of NASCAR doesn’t guarantee success on a higher level, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can tell you. It’s a monumental accomplishment, sure. Every driver wants the title “NASCAR Champion” next to their name for the rest of their lives, and it’s not an easy thing to accomplish.

    That said, with the rise of Tyler Reddick to two-time XFINITY Series champion, we may be witnessing the rise of something huge. Reddick’s ability behind the wheel may make him more than just a NASCAR star, it may just make him a legend in the sport.

    He’s shown an innate ability to run well at all types of tracks; in 2019 the only kind of track he didn’t win on was a road course. Even then, in the four road courses on the schedule (Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Charlotte Roval), he finished fifth, fourth, third, and second, respectively. In the meanwhile, he won on a wide array of tracks from Charlotte and Talladega to Bristol and Homestead. This after a successful Rookie of the Year/Championship campaign in 2018 where he won at Daytona in February and Homestead in November for his only two wins of the season.

    In 2020 he’ll be making his run for RotY in the same No. 8 Chevrolet that Daniel Hemric won the award in for Richard Childress Racing. Although Hemric’s campaign was both quiet and consistent, peppered with strong runs at places like Talladega and Pocono, it happened to be too quiet. Reddick’s limited two-run Cup campaign (Daytona 500 in February, Kansas Speedway in May) in the RCR No. 31 showed a little more promise with a top-10 at Kansas. However, that’s not to say that he wasn’t having a strong run at Daytona before being involved in two major incidents, not of his doing.

    If it says something that Reddick performed like he did in an entry that wasn’t even part-time, then what will it say when his Randall Burnett-led crew (2019 XFINITY Championship-winning crew, at that) makes the jump to Cup with him? Reddick and Burnett already seem to have the Knaus/Johnson chemistry of the early 00s’, so there’s reason to believe that strong results will be showing up. It isn’t a matter of where but when.

    Talk of being legendary in the sport isn’t so far-fetched, either. Reddick isn’t flashy, he isn’t boisterous, he doesn’t really have much of a brand. He isn’t making cameo appearances on NBC sitcoms and he doesn’t have a funny podcast on Apple Podcasts. He’s got an energetic smile and an easygoing personality, though, and he’s got the ability to wheel the fire out of a race car.

    He’s much like Matt Kenseth or David Pearson in that sense. He’s not big on big talk. Instead, he prefers to let his driving speak for him, which is why he’s found so much success in NASCAR’s feeder divisions. He won in the K&N Pro Series, he won in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, and he’s won two XFINITY Series championships.

    Now he’s facing down a full-time ride with Richard Childress Racing in their No. 8 Caterpillar Chevy, and the pieces are in place for Reddick and Burnett to make the most of their rookie year. If Reddick’s performance in the XFINITY Series is any indicator, we may be looking at the rise of some of the rawest talent in years to ever strap into a Cup Series stock car.

  • Tyler Reddick wins race and Xfinity Series championship

    Tyler Reddick wins race and Xfinity Series championship

    As seen in year’s past, if you want to win the championship, you will more than likely also have to win the race. Tyler Reddick did just that at Homestead-Miami Speedway and capped off a perfect season by earning his sixth win of the 2019 season. He took the lead with 18 to go after a fierce battle with Championship 4 contender Cole Custer. Reddick became just the seventh Xfinity Series driver to win back-to-back championships.

    “It’s just amazing and the best part is, my girlfriend Alexa said if I won the championship, our baby boy was going to be named Bo,” Reddick said to MRN Radio. “I got the call so late, we were honestly trying to keep everyone on their toes. I was sideways coming on pit road and I really didn’t know how good my approach was, so I just took it easy. I cost us a lot of time there and came out behind the other two (Champ 4 drivers). That’s on me, I had to put that in my back and had to go out there, and pass those guys while ultimately putting this car in victory lane. Had to put this car in victory lane to where it deserves, that’s on the championship stage, as well as an Owner’s Championship in Richard Childress Racing’s 50th year.”

    Qualifying was held on Saturday afternoon just a few hours before the Xfinity Series race. The session also saw Reddick qualifying on the pole. Championship 4 drivers Cole Custer was second, Christopher Bell was seventh and Justin Allgaier qualified 16th. Bobby Earnhardt was the only driver that failed to qualify. Stages were broke into 45/45/110 laps to make up the 200-lap race distance.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 45

    Stage 1 got off to a rocky start with multiple incidents. On lap 6 the first yellow came out for the No. 07 of Ray Black Jr. as a tremendous amount of smoke came out of the back of his car. The day would end early for Black Jr. but he would be okay. Another incident occurred in Turn 4 on Lap 16, where the No. 15 of Tyler Matthews hit the wall hard and had a flat tire. Matthews’ day was done early too and resulted in a 37th place finish.

    A piece of debris was stuck in Turns 3 and 4 after the accident which made the leaders move down a groove to protect their car from getting hit with it. Shortly after TV cameras pointed the debris out, officials displayed the yellow for the third time of the night on Lap 34.

    With a few quick cautions early, the rest of the stage saw a nine lap dash to the stage break. Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe took the stage win while Custer was second, Reddick fourth, Bell 12th and Allgaier finished 13th.

    Stage 2: Lap 51- Lap 96

    Stage 2 was relaxed for the most part when it came to the cautions. However, one Championship 4 driver had a problem occur on Lap 57. Custer had reported a potential loose wheel to the No. 00. Trying to stay out in hopes of a caution and not lose track positions, he could not anymore and eventually pitted on Lap 60. After the pit stop, the team quickly diagnosed the issue, which was a right-rear that was loose. Custer rejoined the race, one lap down.

    One more driver also faced a tire issue. Jeb Burton had a right rear tire go down as well, but this time, almost spinning out coming to the entry of pit road. Burton saved the car and was able to get down to pit road without bringing out a caution.

    Just a few laps before the stage finished, Custer had the lucky dog position and was hoping that the No. 22 of Austin Cindric, who was the race leader at the time, would help Custer out by leaning over to get his lap back. However, an accident broke out between Justin Haley and Harrison Burton off Turn 4. Custer passed Cindric in time before the caution was displayed in order to get his lap back.

    Cindric wound up winning the stage, with Bell in second, Allgaier in third, Reddick in fourth and Custer in 16th.

    Stage 3: Lap 96- Lap 200

    As soon as the final stage began, the caution was flown once again. This time it was a bumper cover off Haley’s car that was on the frontstretch. While the drivers were scrambling not to run over it, the No. 35 of Joey Gase was the unlucky one and hit the debris.

    After having a strong car early, Briscoe brought out the caution with 78 to go. The Stewart-Haas driver found himself in the wall with a right front tire down. With the caution, most of the leaders pitted and Bell won the race off pit road.

    From that point on, no cautions would be flown but intense battles took place. Three out of the four championship drivers were the top three with 51 to go. Bell was out front, Reddick in second and Custer third. All three drivers were battling hard to win the championship.

    When the last round of green-flag pit stops started to take place, Bell missed the entry to pit road with 41 to go. This ultimately cost him a shot to win the championship and a lot of ground on the racetrack. Therefore, the championship was left up to Reddick, Custer and Allgaier, unless a caution late bunched the field up.

    Allgaier pitted the same time Bell did, while Reddick and Custer pitted a few laps later. When the two rejoined the racing surface, they found themselves racing with Allgaier. The three of them were not trying to run each other over and were three wide going off the pit stops. Eventually, Reddick and Custer had the best two cars of the night and broke away from Allgaier leaving the two drivers to decide it out on their own.

    Working the high line, Reddick made slight contact with the wall while trying to chase Custer with 33 to go. The contact wasn’t hard enough to slow him down but it basically helped Reddick a little bit. The Richard Childress Racing driver still kept close to Custer in regrouping and trying to find more momentum. Reddick found his chance with 18 to go and took the lead. Hoping for no cautions, the Corning, California native held on en route to the ninth victory of his Xfinity Series career and a second Xfinity Series championship.

    “It’s about this race team, man, and I was just honored to pilot this Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet,” Reddick said. “I’m losing my breath—I’m that excited. This one means so much more. It was just a lot better year, and it was really cool to go back-to-back.”

    Meanwhile, Cole Custer came up short once again despite rebounding from a flat tire early on in the race and a battle with Reddick.

    “Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think I said it on TV, Tyler can rip the fence here,” Custer said. “I don’t know, I can match his lap time there, out there at the end, but he was just a tick better where he could be on my bumper when he was behind me and do a slide job, and I could keep up with him and I just ‑‑ there at the end I felt like I needed to find a way to close the gap.”

    “I was just like three car lengths back the whole time, so I was like, I need to try and figure out a way to close the gap, and I just got in the fence a little bit.  It’s been a great year, so we have a lot to hang our hats on.  It sucks running second again, but we can still stay positive about how great of a year we’ve had.”

    Reddick led five times for 84 laps before closing the door on the 2019 Xfinity Series season. There were seven cautions for 35 laps and 15 lead changes among six drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Tyler Reddick, 2019 Xfinity Series Champion, led 84 laps
    2. Cole Custer, led 15 laps
    3. Chase Briscoe, 2019 Rookie Of The Year, led 14 laps
    4. Noah Gragson, led 10 laps
    5. Christopher Bell, led 37 laps
    6. John Hunter Nemechek
    7. Austin Cindric, led 40 laps
    8. Brandon Jones
    9. Jeb Burton, one lap down
    10. Harrison Burton, one lap down
    11. Michael Annett, one lap down
    12. Ryan Sieg, one lap down
    13. Brandon Brown, one lap down
    14. Justin Allgaier, one lap down
    15. Landon Cassill, one lap down
    16. Jeremy Clements, two laps down
    17. Gray Gaulding, two laps down
    18. Alex Labbe, two laps down
    19. Josh Williams, two laps down
    20. B.J. McLeod, two laps down
    21. Colin Garrett, two laps down
    22. Will Rodgers, three laps down
    23. David Starr, four laps down
    24. Stephen Leicht, five laps down
    25. Jairo Avila Jr, five laps down
    26. Vinnie Miller, seven laps down
    27. Joey Gase, seven laps down
    28. Robby Lyons, eight laps down
    29. Joe Nemechek, eight laps down
    30. Matt Mills, OUT, Clutch
    31. C.J. McLaughlin, OUT, Vibration
    32. Garrett Smithley, OUT, Oil Line
    33. Justin Haley, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
    34. Timmy Hill, OUT, Brakes
    35. Chad Finchum, OUT, Engine
    36. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Suspension
    37. Tyler Matthews, OUT, Crash
    38. Ray Black Jr, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: With the 2019 Xfinity Series season officially over, the next on-track activity will be the 2020 opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 15.

  • Preview – 2019 Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead

    Preview – 2019 Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead

    Four drivers are set to compete for the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship title this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is a diverse group of drivers from four different teams representing Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota manufacturers.

    Drivers listed alphabetically.

    Justin Allgaier:

    Allgaier drove his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to victory lane at ISM Raceway last Saturday to secure his spot in the Championship 4 with his first victory this season. This will be the third time in four years that Allgaier has competed for the title, finishing third in two previous attempts in 2016 and 2017. So far this season he has 16 top-fives and 24 top -10 finishes, leading 607 laps with an average finish of 8.9.

    He is optimistic about his chances and feels as though the team has hit its stride at the perfect moment.

    “We’re going to go to Homestead and have some fun. A lot of the storylines this year have been surrounding the other three contenders and they’ve been really strong and they’ve won a lot of races, but I feel like this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team is peaking at the right time and you can’t count us out,” Allgaier said. “We’re going into this weekend with a new mentality and a new energy and we’re going to have a shot at winning a championship. I can’t wait to see what we can go there and do this weekend.”

    Christopher Bell:

    The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been impressive this season with a career-high eight wins in his No. 20 Toyota. His most recent win at Texas Motor Speedway locked him into the Championship 4. This is the second consecutive year that he has qualified for the Playoffs, finishing fourth in 2018. Bell has 19 top-fives and 20 top-10s this year along with six poles and has led 1,968 laps.

    Bell obviously wants to win at Homestead but regardless of the outcome, he is happy with what he has already accomplished this season.

    “I feel good so far. Yes, I want to win the championship so bad, but ultimately it comes down to the last run. If you have a bad pit stop, we saw Erik Jones win the race off pit road two years ago and had it in his hands and one guy stayed out and picked his lane on the restart and it was over. It’s just such a toss-up that you never know how things are going to play out. I would love to win it, but if not, the goal is to get there and we’ve accomplished that,” Bell said. “We’ve won races this year and that’s something I’m proud of. We’ve got an opportunity to win a championship and that’s all you can ask for.”

    Cole Custer:

    Custer has driven his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to seven victories this year. He earned a spot in the Championship 4 on points with a runner-up finish last weekend at ISM Raceway. He has 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s in 2019 with six poles and 907 laps led. It is his second consecutive time qualifying for the championship round, finishing second in 2018. Custer’s first career win was at Homestead in 2017. In three starts at the 1.5-mile track, he has an average finish of 6.7.

    Custer says that it will take a “near-perfect” effort to win at Homestead and is confident that his team is capable of doing just that.

    “In 2018, we had a great car and we were able to lead 95 laps during the race, but we struggled a little bit on the long runs. Tyler Reddick was able to get the top going and had great long-run speed and he was able to make it work for him. I tried late in the race to get the top going, but I couldn’t get it going as fast as him and watched him just drive away. Feeling that heartbreak has us set on kill for this weekend so we don’t have to experience that again and instead, we can hopefully be the ones celebrating on the frontstretch, but it’s going to take a near-perfect race from everyone, which I know we are capable of doing,” Custer said.

    Tyler Reddick:

    Reddick heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday hoping to win back-to-back Xfinity Series titles. He claimed a spot in the Championship 4 after his third-place finish at Phoenix, earning enough points to advance. He has five wins this season in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet along with 23 top-fives, 26 top-10s, four poles and 484 laps led.

    Reddick is hoping to see a race that is similar to last year’s event.

    “I would like it to end kind of the way it did last year with a long run and being able to run up by the fence and just do what I enjoy most, just trying to go as fast as I can on the long run,” he said. “Obviously, it’s just going to come down to who runs the best race all day, who is there at the end. So it’s whoever can do the best and that’ll be our champion.”

    The Xfinity Series Ford EcoBoost 300 is set for Saturday afternoon at 3:30 ET on NBCSN with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Allgaier fights for first win of 2019 in Round of 8 cutoff race

    Allgaier fights for first win of 2019 in Round of 8 cutoff race

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — When the Playoffs were on the line, Justin Allgaier rose to the occasion by winning the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 200 as the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 has officially been declared.

    “We had a hot rod today,” Allgaier declared.

    After winning five races in 2018, Allgaier looks for redemption at Homestead-Miami Speedway this year by winning his first race of the season. It also came at the right time since the JR Motorsports driver was among the cutoff line throughout the race.

    “I don’t think we could have beaten the 20 (Bell),” said Allgaier. “But when he made his mistake, we capitalized on it. That’s what it’s all about. No question (not winning) is a weight on your shoulders, man. You can’t even begin to describe it.”

    Christopher Bell won last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his spot for the championship race. Bell led every green-flag lap in both opening stages, but a speeding penalty on pit road forced him to drop to the rear of the field on the restart of the final stage. Another caution, later on, forced him to pit again. The No. 20 car went one lap down and wasn’t able to recover.

    “I feel like I gave up a winner,” said Bell. “It all comes down to this one next week. I’m ready for it. I feel really good about where we’re at, and our car is going to be extremely strong next week.

    “We’ve prepared a ton for this. Ever since we left Homestead last year, we knew that this race was where we needed to improve. Pretty much all year long, we’ve been focused on Homestead.”

    Since Brandon Jones won at Martinsville, no other driver was completely locked in yet. In a combination of stage points and other competitors falling out of the race, Cole Custer had a large enough gap in the points standings to mathematically lock himself into Homestead.

    “I never got the memo,” Custer laughed when asked if he was told about the championship status update after Stage 2. “I was giving it all I had. I was really struggling with the brake pedal. I kind of lost it at the start of the run. I had to save the whole run until like 15 laps to go, and then I just let it happen. I just came up a little bit short, but I think that was the best run we’ve had at Phoenix in a long time.”

    “I’m looking forward to Homestead, and hopefully we can do one spot better.”

    The regular-season champion, Tyler Reddick, will now go for a second consecutive championship in the Xfinity series. Last year, he won with JR Motorsports. This year, he’ll look to bring a title to Richard Childress Racing.

    Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Austin Cindric, and Noah Gragson were the four drivers eliminated after Phoenix.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will crown their champion next Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Opinion: NASCAR should fine crew members who interfere in driver scuffles

    Opinion: NASCAR should fine crew members who interfere in driver scuffles

    It’s one thing to witness a scuffle following a race, and there’s no doubt it can often times be some of the best excitement following a race weekend. Remember Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski at Texas in 2014? Kyle Busch and Joey Logano at Las Vegas in 2017? Or even Logano and Tony Stewart at Fontana in 2013?

    Those are just a few scuffles where excitement was drawn due to the drivers who race on a weekly basis getting heated and throwing hands. What always manages to screw things up, though, is when the crew gets involved. That’s not to say it’s not fun to watch them exchange fists, but it can get out of hand sometimes. Case in point: The Tyler Reddick/Cole Custer scuffle following Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

    It wasn’t even much of a scuffle at first. First words and a couple of stiff shoves were exchanged. No harm yet. But once the crews came bounding in to pull the drivers apart the emotions were high enough that Reddick ended up taking a few shots to the face and ended up with a bloody patch above the eye.

    It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it isn’t necessary. Whatever happened on the track is between the drivers. They’re the ones who usually bring about the carnage and the heated emotions. Sure, it’s up to the crew to have their driver’s back, but they also need to make it a point to save their drivers from themselves. Otherwise on-track issues should always remain between those who are actually on-track: The drivers.

    In the NHL a player is ejected and suspended if they leave the bench to join a fight. This could be a useful approach in NASCAR and an effective way to remind the crews to keep their emotions in check. For every crew member who lands an errant punch on a driver, that’s a one-race suspension effective immediately.

    That would be an effective way to keep the crews in check and send a reminder to the teams that their crew better be on their best behaviors. The fights aren’t about the teams, they’re about the drivers and should be settled as such. If the drivers are going to be settling issues with their fists instead of their bumpers (as should be the case), then the only things crews should be worried about is separating the drivers.

    That said, the Reddick/Custer scuffle was otherwise handled the way it should have been. The drivers didn’t use their cars as instruments of anger, they used their words and fists. That’s the way a disagreement between drivers should always be handled. The crews need to stay out of it and should only be looking out for their drivers, which doesn’t constitute swinging on the other driver.

  • Tyler Reddick Promoted by RCR to the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the NASCAR Cup Series for 2020

    Tyler Reddick Promoted by RCR to the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the NASCAR Cup Series for 2020

    Richard Childress Racing announced today that Tyler Reddick, defending NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, will be driving the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2020 season.

    Reddick, who currently pilots the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for the team in the Xfinity Series, has secured five wins, three pole awards, 21 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes so far this season and currently sits third in the Playoff standings. The 23-year-old Corning, California-native made his Cup Series debut with RCR in the 2019 DAYTONA 500 and made an additional Cup start at Kansas Speedway in May, during which he earned a ninth-place finish.

    “I’m beyond grateful to everyone at Richard Childress Racing for their support throughout this entire year and continued support into next year,” said Reddick.

    “It means a lot to me that Richard, his team, and Caterpillar believe in my ability to represent them both on and off the racetrack. My goal was always to get to race on Sundays, and I’m so excited to achieve that next year with RCR, ECR and Caterpillar. I’m excited to take this next step in my career with their support, but also realize I’ve still got a lot of work to do this year with my No. 2 team to bring home the Xfinity Series Championship. I can’t think of a better way to end RCR’s 50th celebration and kick off next year than by capturing that trophy.”

    Caterpillar, entering its 12th year of partnership with RCR, will serve as the primary partner on Reddick’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for the 2020 season. The world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives began as a sponsor in NASCAR in 1993. Caterpillar is continuing their refreshed approach to expand their NASCAR program outside of the racetrack by leveraging their brand campaign and social channels.

    Prior to coming to RCR, Reddick secured his NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2018 with two wins, seven top-five and 20 top-10 finishes. Reddick previously completed a part-time Xfinity Series schedule in 2017, capturing one win, four top-five and six top-10 finishes, as well as three years in the NASCAR Truck Series, during which he secured three wins, 25 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes.

    Additional partnership information and team information for the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be made at a later date.

  • Reddick plays strategy to finish runner up at Charlotte Roval

    Reddick plays strategy to finish runner up at Charlotte Roval

    It wasn’t the dominating race that we normally see by Tyler Reddick and the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Reddick qualified in second but was really nowhere to be found throughout the Drive for the Cure 250.

    Reddick was playing track position by pitting at the end of the stages hoping to assume the lead and be up front for yet another win in the Playoffs. However, it was a ho-hum day for the No. 2 Emerson Chevy, somehow finishing second but not scoring any stage points.

    “This has kind of been the story of our year,” Reddick said to PRN Radio. “We have what looked liked to be really good days. I honestly just made a lot of mistakes here recently. The nice part about making those mistakes is we have been able to rebound and get really good finishes.”

    “Our Emerson Copeland Chevrolet missed the chicane on the first lap. We just had all the odds stacked up against for the day and make us work a lot harder than we should have too, but it’s good practice in case we ever need it.”

    By scoring the win at Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, Reddick is already locked into the Round of 8.

  • Battle for XFINITY Series Championship a throwback to NASCAR’s title fights of the 90s

    Battle for XFINITY Series Championship a throwback to NASCAR’s title fights of the 90s

    Instituting the Playoff system in the NASCAR XFINITY Series was meant to be a way to level the playing field for NASCAR’s Triple-A division, a goal furthered when Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars were further limited in the XFINITY Series attempts. However, while that has paved the way to the XFINITY regulars standing up and being noticed, it’s clear that the 2019 title campaign has instead brought three contenders to the forefront: Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, and Christopher Bell.

    While other drivers have managed to find their way to Victory Lane, such as series regulars Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe, it’s the Big Three of Reddick, Custer, and Bell who have been switching the lead in terms of most wins on the season; Bell currently leads with seven wins to Custer’s six and Reddick’s five. While this posits them as the primary contenders for the championship, this also draws parallels to the championship battles of the late 90s, when Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon were constantly duking it out for NASCAR supremacy.

    In 1997, Gordon took home the title with 10 wins in a 32-race season, with Jarrett finishing runner-up in the standings with seven wins, while Martin came home in third with four wins. Gordon again took the title in ’98 with 13 wins, while Martin came home in second with seven wins, while Jarrett finished third in points with three wins. The trio made up for 23 wins in the season’s 33 events. This was diced up a bit in ’99, as the Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiacs of Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart finished second and fourth, respectively, winning eight of the season’s 34 events while season champion Jarrett won four times to Martin’s two (Martin finished third in points). Series win leaders Jeff Burton (6) and Jeff Gordon (7) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

    Granted, that was in the Winston Cup Series. But looking at the NASCAR Busch Series (today’s XFINITY Series) results in the same time period, Randy LaJoie took the ’97 championship with five wins, while Todd Bodine finished second with a single win and Steve Park took third with three wins. But business picked up in ’98 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the championship with seven wins to Matt Kenseth’s three and Mike McLaughlin’s two. In ’99 Earnhardt repeated as the champion with six wins to Jeff Green’s three and Kenseth’s four.

    To be champion, a driver needs to be consistent. But winning often also plays a big hand in winning a title, and while Reddick, Custer, and Bell have already surpassed their Busch Series counterparts of the 90s, they’re also making the title fight their own due to their constant winning. Bell is undoubtedly the odds-on favorite; with 15 wins in 68 starts since May 2017 he’s been a championship threat ever since he began his first full-time XFINITY Series campaign in February 2018. He won the 2017 Camping World (now Gander Outdoor) Truck Series championship, and in 2016 made it to the championship round at Homestead as a rookie. Bell’s known nothing but title fights, and he could seal the deal in 2019 as he has proven himself versatile on all types of tracks.

    However, Custer and Reddick haven’t been far behind Bell, with both having breakout years despite Reddick having won last year’s championship. Both have also proven themselves to be adept at every type of track this season, with both of them looking to and possibly matching Bell’s Playoff performances in the upcoming races. They’re almost evenly matched, and it is difficult to say how each will fare in the upcoming events. Bell’s already crossed off a road course victory on his list, and he may very well prove himself to be adept at the upcoming Roval as he finished fifth there a year ago. But Reddick and Custer also recorded top-10 runs in that same race.

    Point being, despite this being a Big Three battle in the XFINITY Series, this is anyone’s fight. Reddick, Custer, and Bell are winning with the same frequency and dominance as Gordon, Jarrett, Martin, Burton, Kenseth, and Earnhardt, but the Playoff campaign is actually magnifying their efforts and truly turning this battle into a Winner-Takes-All event, not unlike the 1992 Winston Cup campaign.

    Then again, something to consider regarding the championship round at Homestead there’s always the fourth playoff driver to act as a foil to the Big Three. It was evident in last season’s Cup and XFINITY finale; could it happen again in November with shades of Alan Kulwicki in 1992? No matter what, this XFINITY battle is shaping up to be one for the ages.