Playoff candidate Tyler Reddick flips on Las Vegas Fronstretch

There has been no shortage of strange wrecks in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, the latest of which occurred Sunday in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, upending NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs driver Tyler Reddick.

Reddick, the regular season champion and third seed in the semifinals of the NASCAR Playoffs, was running on the outside lane when the two drivers in front of him – Chase Elliott and Martin Truex, Jr. – slid upwards. track, which pushed No. 45 against the wall.

Elliott and Reddick were the first two drivers to make substantial contact in the incident, which caused both the No. 9 Chevrolet and the No. 45 Toyota to spin around the track and into Brad Keselowski’s path, sending all three drivers to the infield turned. .

The wreckage seemed harmless at first, but quickly turned nasty. Reddick’s Toyota Camry

Perhaps the most surprising part of that incident, however, was that Reddick somehow managed to drive his No. 45 Toyota back to his pit box so his crew could assess the damage, which – of course – was extensive and meant the end of the race.

The Corning, California native was forced to withdraw from the South Point 400 after just 89 circuits around Las Vegas, and is credited with a 35th-place finish (barring failed post-race inspections).

“You just have to be aggressive on restarts,” Reddick said. “That’s how racing with NextGen has been from the beginning. I saw them both having a moment and I only had a split second to make a decision. You have to be aggressive on the restart. It’s hard to pass after that. being myself for a while at a mile and a half, being aggressive – by the time I realized I was in trouble, the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) started sliding and the 9 (Chase Elliott) came along and I was just about. at that moment already on the outside, and can’t really go anywhere.

“Yes, you just have to be aggressive on restarts. This is how Next Gen racing has been from the beginning. I could tell they were both having a moment, and I had to make a split-second decision. YI had to make the decision earlier when I saw them becoming more conservative to avoid an incident – ​​just not who I am, but it’s a shame. It took us out of the race. We had a very, very fast Jordan brand Toyota Camry, which probably would have been in the mix for the entire race, but we’re going to Homestead – a place I’ve had to do it before and I’m going for it.”

“I had to make the decision earlier when I saw them becoming more conservative to avoid an incident – just not who I am, but it’s a shame,” Reddick added. It took us out of the race. We had a very, very fast Jordan brand Toyota Camry, which probably would have been in the mix for the entire race, but we’re going to Homestead – a place I’ve had to do it before and I’m going for it.”

Chase Elliott, the second post-season driver involved in the accident, was initially able to return to the track, but after clearing the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) clock, he went to the garage to make more substantial repairs.

While all this chaos was happening at the front of the field, Ryan Blaney was having problems in the middle of the pack. Blaney stepped into the outside wall in an attempt to avoid the coming accident, which broke the right rear toe joint of the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

After starting at the back of the field in a spare car and following an accident in early practice, Blaney was able to continue overcoming adversity, with his team repairing the toe joint in the allotted time and finishing just a few laps behind the track returned. the leaders.

This one intense moment in the second phase of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event in Las Vegas will ultimately play a major role in who advances to Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, with Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott needing to make time in the last two races of the round.