Worst-case scenario in Richmond leaves Reddick still hunting a playoff spot

Tyler Reddick was having the night he needed to in the first stage of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. But his night was over before the end of the second stage.

Reddick, who qualified second in his 23XI Racing Toyota, took the lead from polesitter Ryan Preece on lap 59 and drove away from the field. The regular-season champion from one year ago drove to the stage win, his second of the season. It gave Reddick an additional, valuable playoff point.

In the second stage, Reddick added more laps to his time out front by retaking the top spot on lap 139 before his teammate, Bubba Wallace, came calling on lap 164. Then on lap 181, while running fourth, Reddick was spun in Turn 4 by Ty Gibbs. Gibbs, however, had been tagged by Daniel Suarez, who was battling Reddick for position, sending him into the side of Reddick’s machine.

“Daniel just got impatient and knocked the [No.] 54 out of the way, and that’s what took us out,” Reddick said. “Unfortunately, I had a feeling that was going to happen, and I was just hoping more respect was going to be given. He went in there, and he moved the [No.] 54.

“I don’t know if he meant for it to wreck me, but nonetheless, I feel like time and time again, Daniel has done that type of thing.”

Reddick hit the outside wall with the left side of his car. He was never in contention again and finished 34th after leading a total of 41 laps.

The damage was significant enough that Reddick “went from a car that was one of the fastest on the track to one of the slowest. So, yeah, it affected it quite a bit.”

NASCAR will finalize the postseason grid next Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Reddick is the highest driver on the provisional playoff grid without a victory, but he is not guaranteed a playoff spot. The advantage Reddick has over Alex Bowman, who is the last driver on the provisional playoff grid, is 29 points.

Reddick and Bowman would both make the postseason if there is no new winner at Daytona. But if there is, the final spot would come down to either Reddick or Bowman.

“It was pretty much worse-case scenario for us,” said Reddick of Richmond. “When you have a Toyota Camry as fast as ours is, you need to score the points. (Bowman) scored a lot of points and (Austin Dillon) won. So, all in all, it was pretty much a worst-case scenario. Yeah, we can thank Daniel Suarez for that.”