It’s Bristol baby! The race was cleaner than many would have expected. To put it in a few words, it was really a smooth sailing ride by Kyle Larson as he swirled graciously through lap traffic and bagged his 5th win of the season. However, some drivers were losing patience, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to gain lap positions.

This included the regular season champion, Tyler Reddick! The frustration is understandable since there was so much on the line. A bad move could have ended the playoff hopes, as would have just to keep racing clean. The #45 team was in dire need of points as they trailed in the race. However, desperation often leads many to make mistakes. But none in the way Tyler Reddick made it ahead of stage 2. Even fans couldn’t believe it!

Tyler Reddick admits to helping Denny Hamlin

On lap 243, there was a yellow flag as Joey Logano crashed from 12th place, trying to navigate through the lap traffic. This caution only came five laps before the stage 2’s end. Hence, teams were in a fix as to whether to pit and get fresher tires or to stay out and get the crucial points. The #45 team of Tyler Reddick decided to stay out and start on the top at the restart. Since they had been running 18th along, getting frustrated.

However, it was going to be a losing battle, as he had older tires. Naturally, Kyle Larson quickly took the lead. Larson picked up the stage win, Martin Truex Jr followed the #5 in the 2nd position and Tyler Reddick let Hamlin pass and take the 3rd, whereas the #45 remained in the 4th position taking 7 points. Although what Reddick did is a violation. It happens in the game, as teammates help each other. Hamlin, who is also Reddick’s boss, owning the 23XI team, needed more points than the #45 to stay in the playoffs.

However, what Reddick did wrong was admit to doing this on his radio, which is publicly accessible! He said, “Make sure the 11 knows what I did for him.” His team was quick to clarify that isn’t the plan. Someone from his team said, “I hope like hell you didn’t do anything for him. We’re racing his ass and it’s close.” 

The message clearly indicated that Reddick wasn’t competitive. And did not race the #11 as hard as he would have had it been some other driver. This enabled Hamlin to get the crucial 8 points out of stage 2. He entered the race -6 points below the cut line but finished with being +7 points above and in 6th position in the playoff standings.

The move played out perfectly. Denny Hamlin finished 4th and is locked in the playoffs. Tyler Reddick finished 20th, however, had enough points to bag a P3 position in the playoff rankings. However, the move by Reddick had fans in utter shock as the #45  publicly admitted to cheating and NASCAR has previously penalized teams for race manipulation.

Fans were shocked after Reddick admitted to manipulation

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The 2022 Charlotte race comes to mind where SHR’s Cole Custer manipulated the elimination race. It appeared as though he deliberately held the field behind him, enabling Chase Briscoe to pass him. Briscoe earned the eighth and final spot in the round of 8 in the playoffs. However, NASCAR did not take kindly to this. 

NASCAR senior vice president, Scott Miller, had said, “Nothing contradicted that, that was done deliberately.” SHR was fined  $200,000! Many fans suspect the same to happen with the 23XI team. A fan wrote, “That’s a penalty.”

Fans found Reddick too naïve for admitting that he did that as he could have just as easily let it pass. One fan wrote, “Not something he should’ve admitted on the radio.” Another one echoed the same emotion when he wrote, “We know it happens, you can’t admit to it.”

The fans are calling this cheating, as it seems like a violation of NASCAR rules. The rule states, “NASCAR requires its Competitor(s) to race at 100 percent of their ability with the goal of achieving their best possible finishing position in the Event. Any Competitor(s) who takes action with the intent to Artificially Alter the finish positions of the Event or encourages, persuades or induces others to Artificially Alter the finish positions of the Event shall be subject to a penalty from NASCAR, as specified in Section 10 Violations and Disciplinary Action.” One fan accused Reddick of openly cheating. He wrote, “Bro just openly admitted to cheating lmao.”

Another fan wrote, “Reddick admitting to race manipulation on his radio.” However, Reddick can be penalized based on the radio conversation. What about Hamlin? As of now, it is unclear if he was part of this or not. If not, he would face no problems. As happened in the Custer-Briscoe case. Briscoe did not have any knowledge of Custer’s move and hence was not penalized.

Is this fair according to you? What did you think about the incident? Let us know in the comments below.