The field is now down to eight drivers! The Round of 12 wrapped up at the newly revamped Charlotte ROVAL. Heading into the race, many NASCAR drivers raised caution for the new turn 7. Including NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin, who ahead of the race had said, “It’s inviting to go in there and dive-bomb, and that will get rewarded sometimes, and sometimes it won’t.”

While NASCAR introduced the tight hairpin turn to make it a passing zone on track, many predicted it to be a calamity corner, and that is exactly what it turned out to be! Unfortunately, the #11 driver jinxed it as he was wrecked by his driver, Tyler Reddick, in that corner. Now, post the race, Hamlin explained what unfolded on the track.

Denny Hamlin on his crash with Tyler Reddick

The NASCAR veteran has never won the ROVAL race since its introduction in 2018. Even in the most recent race, the #11 wasn’t off to a good start. He started the race in P21 and quickly dropped positions to P24 and stayed out of the top 20 in stage 1. This had Hamlin lose his +30 point cushion entering the race.

And adding to the trouble, when Denny Hamlin had finally climbed to P20, Tyler Reddick wrecked him. What happened was, at lap 31, Austin Dillion spun in turn 7 after he got into the back of Bubba Wallace. Reddick, taking the inside line, was trying to get past the pack but lost control of his car, leading to him ramming into his boss. Here, take a look at what happened:

The contact led to the bending of the toe link on both their cars. Hamlin post the race opened up about the damage it did to his car. He said, “It hurt the car, it knocked some out of alignment in the rear. My steering wheel went from being straight to at 3 o’clock. It certainly had a detrimental outcome to my car but certainly, Chris did a great job with his adjustments to compensate for the handling that bent toelink did. Just great job by the team, we survived and now we can race.” 

Thankfully, the damage wasn’t enough for a DNF. Hamlin eventually climbed positions and ended his race in the 14th position, which was enough for him to progress to the next round. The crash was proving to be more detrimental to the chances of Tyler Reddick, who after starting from P2 and winning stage 1, found himself in P35 after the wreck. The #45 sharing his version of the story said, “I think I was behind the No. 19 [Martin Truex Jr.] just trying to work the move to the inside. I got clear of him —  I saw the No. 3 [Dillon] spun and everybody was on the binders coming to a stop. Of course, me and my boss [Hamlin] get together. Felt like I was gonna do a front flip — this thing was absolutely destroyed.”

What could have been a game over for Reddick proved otherwise, as his team was quick with the repairs and he stayed on the lead lap. Reddick through stages 2 and 3 and climbed back up. It was a tight tussle between Joey Logano and Reddick for the final stages as they were close in points. However, thanks to a better pit strategy by the 23XI team over Penske, Reddick closed the points gap. And eventually qualified for the next round after finishing the race in P11 ahead of Denny Hamlin. This shows the potential of Reddick making him a strong championship contender.

Can Tyler Reddick take home a win this year?

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In only his second year with the 23XI Racing team, Reddick has already amazed everyone by bagging the regular season championship after a consistent run, where he managed to get 3 wins. Even at the ROVAL the team co-owner, Denny Hamlin was amazed after Reddick passed him to take the final spot. Hamlin said, “I’m not surprised that team (#45) is really prepared, he’s a great road course racer, he’s been on it for most part all year. But to have the damage I had I don’t know the extent of it but it was pretty bad. For them to come back and you know drive around us finish 11th is pretty great.”

Reddick in back-to-back seasons has made it to the round of 8. In 2023, he made it to the playoffs after winning the COTA race and was en route to his first championship 4. However, a P26 finish at Martinsville Speedway ended his playoff journey in the 6th position. The #23 is hoping to make it further this year. Thanks to all the playoff points earned through the season, Reddick is in the 3rd position and +10 points above the cutoff line.

The next race is at Las Vegas and Reddick finished in P2 on the track last year. Out of his 9 appearances there in the Cup Series, five have been top-10 finishes. As for Homestead Miami, which is the second race of the round of 8, Reddick took P3 in 2023. Out of his four appearances on the track, three have been top-5 finishes. Lastly, Martinsville will play the eliminator. While Reddick got a P26 there last season, this year’s spring race has shown promise. The #45 driver bagged a P7 finish. Which is also his best finish on the track in the Cup Series.

The two-time Xfinity Series champion has a good chance of bagging a Cup crown. What do you think are his chances this year? Let us know in the comments below.