“It makes me sick” to miss out on another Darlington win

On the opening lap of the Southern 500, it looked like Tyler Reddick‘s race might already be over as he got doored by an out-of-control Josh Berry and began to spin sideways. Somehow, the 23XI Racing driver managed to straighten it back out in a heart-stopping moment for the No. 45 team.

After that, he went on to nearly win the grueling 500-mile race. Reddick was closing in on Chase Briscoe as the checkered flag drew near, and made a desperate lunge into the final corner, but it wasn’t enough as another potential Darlington win slipped through his fingertips.

It was a bittersweet feeling, walking away with a lucky escape and a large bucket of points, but falling one position shy of winning a NASCAR crown jewel.

“The balance had just kind of gone away,” said Reddick in a post-race media scrum as he reflected on the finish. “It was a long run, for sure … We just weren’t tight enough in the end to be able to do something with the No. 19 [Briscoe]. For me, it just makes me sick. I feel like late in this race, especially the Southern 500, I always find myself second or third in the last green-flag run, trying to pass the leader.”

It’s true. Reddick is always a threat at Darlington, and yet, he remains winless at the historic venue. He has finished second or third here four different times in his career, and wrecked going for the win in the spring of 2024.

“I was out of ideas” with last-lap lunge

When he made the dive on Briscoe on the white flag lap, Motorsport.com’s Matt Weaver asked him what he was thinking in that moment.

“I was out of ideas,” admitted Reddick. “I was really loose off the wall. He was as well. I was trying to get a gauge for how much grip I was going to have. I really drove it in there and I didn’t have any. I was pretty much hanging on from the moment I hit the brake pedal. Just trying to hang onto his left-rear, but it was going to take a bump in the left-rear to upset his car and that probably would have spun me out.”

Reddick didn’t want to risk another wreck, like what happened when he tried to pass Chris Buescher in the same corner last year, so he had no choice but to settle for second. As for his strong points position leaving Darlington, he’s not ready to think about that.

“I think Monday morning, I’ll wake up and be thinking playoffs, but right now I’m just thinking about this race — Darlington,” he told the assembled media. “Those things are great for us, but man I’ve done everything to win at this place and it’s really starting to drive me nuts (laughs).”

Reddick heads to Gateway 35 points above the cutline.