Reddick frustrated by topsy-turvy season so far

Tyler Reddick has had opportunities to win this season and sits inside the top 15 in the NASCAR Cup Series points, but asked to assess his season, the Richard Childress Racing driver used the word “frustrating.”

“That’s probably the best way to put it,” Reddick said Friday at Nashville Superspeedway as the series returns from its only off weekend. “It’s everything you hoped for at times, but unfortunately, things go wrong.”

The list of good and bad is growing for Reddick and the No. 8 team:

• Led 151 laps and was in the lead at Fontana when a flat tire precipitated a collision with William Byron.
•  Finished third at Phoenix on a green-white-checker
•  Led 99 laps and was spun from the lead by Chase Briscoe on the last lap going into Turn 3.
• Completed just 31 laps before the engine blew at Talladega
• Finished second at Darlington
• Led 24 laps and finished 30th at Kansas
• Led 19 laps and finished sixth at Charlotte

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“It’s important to go back in the days after and look back on it and take away the positives...so you can grow and get better for hopefully the next race and the next weekend,” Reddick said. “But after that, you’re telling yourself, 'Should have; would have; could have,' and saying the what-ifs, if you will. If you get caught up in that then you lose sight of what is important, and that is the next week ahead.”

Reddick has led 249 laps with six top-10 finishes, but his average finish is 18.3 with three DNFs. He made the postseason last year for the first time and looks capable of earning a berth again.

The problem: He’s not safe at 14th in the point standings as the regular season winds down. With four drivers who have won sitting worse in points than Reddick, as it stands, he would not be a part of the playoff grid.

Yet Reddick claims his team won’t change anything in their pursuit of the postseason.

“No, but it’s definitely crazy how things can change in the matter of one race,” he said. “We were in a place where I think we were in a good position to make our way in on points and I feel like that has drastically changed.

“So certainly the mindset shifts more to winning, but if I’m being honest, we’ve been trying to do that all year long. In reality, not a whole lot changes for us, but...I don’t think we are as worried about points going forward.”