"It's a tough thing": Tyler Reddick comments on Bubba Wallace not making the NASCAR playoffs this year

At Darlington, Tyler Reddick finished in 10th place and earned the NASCAR regular season championship title. With two wins and eight finishes inside the top 5, Reddick beat Kyle Larson by a single point to claim the title. The season's outcome for Reddic stands in stark contrast to that of his teammate, Bubba Wallace.

While Reddick celebrated his championship, Wallace failed to make the playoffs at the same racetrack following the same race. During a post-race media interaction, the #45 driver was asked about what advice he would give his teammate. Tyler Reddick responded:

"Well, I mean, honestly I feel like that stuff, I mean there's a number of things that I could say but I feel like honestly it's best we keep it between me and him. It's tough. I've been in a spot. It's not fun to be that close and just miss it. It's tough to go back and look on. You can pick a part of a race to make right each weekend - 'Man we gave up points here, there.' It's a tough thing." [7:00]

Having said that, Tyler Reddick claimed that the silver lining for Bubba Wallace could be to go forward and improve his current consistent run. The Talladega and Michigan winner of this season remarked that there are many things that a driver can't control as he pointed to the #23 team finding themselves in many such scenarios during races this year.

Tyler Reddick also mentioned that on many occasions this year, he had benefitted from factors on the track that were out of his control. He added that this duality is inherent to the nature of racing.

Speaking further about Bubba Wallace, the #45 driver added:

"I know they can get better and they will get better. They have a great opportunity here over the rest of this year and reload and be ready to go for the next time."

---

Denny Hamlin had similar advice for Bubba Wallace as Tyler Reddick

Following Bubba Wallace's failure to make the playoff this season, his boss, Denny Hamlin, sent a message to his driver. Hamlin claimed that if Wallace ran next year, the way he has in the previous 10-12 races of this season, he'd make the playoffs.

"I think my message to them is, you know, stay on the track that you’re at, and sometimes you got to walk before you run," Hamlin said. [2:05]

The 23XI Racing co-owner added that Bubba Wallace and the #23 team have 'some good things going.' And now it's up to them to race freely and try to finish 17th in points.

Whether Bubba Wallace will be able to do that or not, or get a win this year, only time will tell.