Tyler Reddick Opted Against ‘Tempting’ Last Gasp Move for NASCAR Race Win in Phoenix

At the Phoenix Raceway, Chase Briscoe won his maiden Cup race. He finished ahead of Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick, but it could have all gone differently. All three drivers were chasing their maiden Cup win, so chances were that drivers would consider desperate tactics. In the end, Reddick decided against needlessly jeopardizing his own race, as well as his rivals’ races.

The #8 Richard Childress Racing driver knew that he could not afford to attempt a banzai move. Admittedly, nobody would have blamed him for seriously contemplating last-ditch moves. Since he lined up on the outside of the front row for the final restart, he would have had the opportunity to do so.

He said, “It’s very tempting, right? It’s like when someone cuts you off on the freeway, and you’re mad and want to honk at them. It’s very tempting to hit the horn. (I was) just trying to manage that. It’s a difficult thing. I guess for Chase [Briscoe] both times with Ross and then me, it’s like, who’s going to lift first going off into Turn 1? It was a lot of fun. I wish I could have been able to drive it in deeper, but that was all I had. I couldn’t go any further; I would have fenced it.”

What else did Tyler Reddick say about the race at Phoenix?

At the race start, both Briscoe and Reddick got decent starts, but the #8 driver had the edge. With the race lead firmly in his grasp, the RCR driver focused on fending off Reddick and Chastain. In the end, the 26-year-old from California recorded a fine third place, his first top-five finish of the season. In the end though, out of the three of them, Briscoe was the first to snatch a maiden win.

Tyler Reddick continued, “I know some ridiculous, crazy move is not going to win the race for me – it’s going to lose it for me. You don’t have to break the mold to make a race-winning move. You have to still run a really fast lap time to put yourself in position. I wasn’t going to take something really ridiculous; It’s not like a Homestead or a road course where you can give it off in there and got plenty of room to park it.”

To make matters even sweeter, this third place was a career-best result in five Phoenix starts. Prior to that, he only had a best finish of 19th place on two occasions. This was actually a happy hunting ground for him, as he earned points in both stages and had an average running position of sixth. Furthermore, the leg numbness issues that plagued him in the last two race weekends, was practically non-existent this weekend.

READ MORE: Tyler Reddick Battles a Unique Problem For the 2022 NASCAR Cup Season