Reddick comes in hot to Iowa Xfinity race

Tyler Reddick is simple in his approach to racing. He simply is winning and having fun doing it in 2019.

“It’s simple — I love passing people,” the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion said. “I hate getting passed but I love racing with them, having good battles — Taking a car that can run third to first — pushing over the car’s limit lap after lap and racing is more than winning. It’s going out there having fun and doing the absolute best I can.”

Reddick comes into Sunday’s Circuit City 250 at Iowa Speedway as the NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader. He is coming off his third race win of the season, winning at Michigan last Saturday.

The Circuit City 250 has a 4:30 p.m. start time Sunday. Driver’s introductions are at 4 p.m.

Reddick was one of several Xfinity drivers and their teams to help with a Goodyear Tire test at Newton’s racetrack in April. He hadn’t won a race yet then went to Talladega to claim a win on April 27. His second victory came on May 25 at Charlotte.

“It was great,” Reddick said about the Talladega win. “It just showed we were capable of winning races all season long. We put a complete race together and executed it well.”

Reddick is looking to keep things rolling at “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet” this weekend. He has had four starts at Iowa with one top-five finish.

A year ago, Reddick ran eighth driving for JR Motorsports. In 2019, Reddick moved to the Richard Childress Racing team and drives the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for RCR. His crew chief is Randall Burnett.

“Randall and I understand each other well and know each other’s backgrounds,” Reddick said. “I come with a dirt racing background so for me the car is either tight or loose. Randall gets what I’m saying about the car when we talk and he makes the correct adjustments.”

Reddick, whose is from California, began racing at age 4 with Outlaw Karts. As he grew up, he worked his way through the racing ranks. He has raced sprint cars and dirt late models. He ran in the ARCA Racing Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in 2012.

His debut in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came in 2013. He competed in that series through the 2016 season.

Reddick drove part-time in Xfinity races in 2017 then was signed by BKR for the 2018 season. He won the Xfinity Series championship his rookie season.

At April’s tire test, he talked of not having the speed his closest competitors — Christopher Bell and Cole Custer — had during the runs at Iowa Speedway. Bell is second in points driving the No. 20 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Custer is third in points driving the No. 00 Stewart-Hass Racing Ford Mustang.

“The tire test was a good wakeup call for us and showed us how much work we had to do. Our team’s worked pretty hard to bring back something better than what we had there for the tire test. Obviously we won’t know for sure until we hit the track for practices on Saturday,” Reddick said.

To get the win at Iowa’s 7/8-mile track Sunday, Reddick said he and his team has to run a complete race from start to finish.

Reddick said in years past he has had fast cars and made mistakes throughout the day or they just didn’t have the speed they needed.

“Getting our car really close in practice and from there me keeping it where we need to be on the track throughout the race on Sunday will give us a great opportunity for the win,” he said. “I’m confident with the information we came away from the test with knowing where we were at and where we needed to be to compete with the No. 00 and No. 20.”

Reddick said a lot fans don’t understand his style of racing. He said they watch him race and he’s got the car hung out sideways so they think he is a bad driver.

“No, it’s my aggressive nature plus it’s about my dirt racing background. That’s how I race against these guys,” Reddick said.

Reddick — like most race drivers who have run at Iowa Speedway — the track surface is his favorite thing about the track. He also likes that it’s a track which allows drivers options.

“I like these short tracks which are momentum race tracks. It widens out so you can run the high line or go low to find clean air,” he said.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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or jsheets@newtondailynews.com