Tyler Reddick ends torrid stretch with P7 at Bristol

NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race. Chris Graythen Getty Images
NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race. Chris Graythen Getty Images

Tyler Reddick battled it out in the dirt and earned a seventh-place finish for his efforts

Tyler Reddick's 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season didn't have many high points until last weekend's Bristol dirt race. Aside from a season-high second-place result at Homestead, the best he had to show for his on-track efforts was 22nd. However, at the Tennessee bullring, he bounced back with a seventh-place finish which moved him up from 28th to 25th in the points standings.

"That was a tough day for everybody, but I’m really proud of my BetMGM team for sticking with me all day long. It was truly a battle out there to keep up with the changing track conditions," Tyler Reddick told reporters after the race. "I felt like we had everything come at us today...Visibility was a huge challenge too. My spotter, Derek Kneeland, did a great job helping me through all the restarts when I couldn’t see anything on the track with all the dust. Towards the end of Stage 2, my engine temps started pegging and we were all worried that it was going to ruin our race, but thankfully, a caution came out at the right time."

Heading into Bristol, Tyler Reddick's average finish was 21.57, making Bristol a do-or-die situation in order to start getting his season back on track.

He began his charge in the first stage, moving up from 28th to 12th by the time the green-and-white checkered flag few. It was the second stage, however, where Tyler Reddick was finally able to move up to eighth and bag a few stage points. He only improved one position by the end of the race, nursing an engine that was on the verge of blowing up.

"I was able to cool it (the car) off long enough under yellow to make it to the stage break and have my team work on it," Tyler Reddick said during the post-race press conference. "We had a shot at a top 5 at the end today, but I went for it on the top and the grip just wasn’t there like I'd hoped. But overall, a really good day for us. We’ll take this top 10 finish and build on it in a couple of weeks at Martinsville Speedway.”

It's also important to note that while Tyler Reddick did finish second at Homestead back in February, he was later disqualified after his car failed the post-race technical inspection. Now that the young driver can keep his hard-earned points from Bristol, he will be hoping to maintain this form and keep the momentum going.

Edited by Sandeep Banerjee
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