Page 188 - 2019_NPPG_digital copy

TYLER REDDICK

Birth Date: January 11, 1996 Hometown: Corning, CA
Birth Date: August 12, 1993 Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Team: No. 2 Chevy Camaro SS / Richard Childress Racing
Team: No. 16 Toyota Tundra/Roush Fenway Racing

When Tyler Reddick announced he was leaving JR Motorsports for a new NASCAR
Xfinity Series ride at Richard Childress Racing, there were three races remaining in the
2018 NASCAR Playoffs.

And Reddick was still in contention to win it all.

Instead of being distracted by his changing allegiance, the 23-year-old driver from
Corning, Calif., advanced to the Championship 4 and eventually won the title
with a victory at finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

There were plenty of other reasons to question whether Reddick could
FEATURED DRIVERS clinch JRM’s third championship in five years. Despite having some

the best cars in the series, a bullet-fast Chevy Camaro SS, he only
had one victory and just six top-fives going to the championship-
clinching race.

But he proved everyone wrong by leading the final 37 laps
to win by more than a quarter-mile.

“You know, maybe not everybody in the garage believed it, but
our team believed it, and that’s all we need,” Reddick said. “All
the guys in the shop believed it.

“It’s not about proving people wrong. It’s just about believing in what
our team knew, what all of us on our team knew was capable and what we
were possible of. Even in the lowest of lows, we still knew if we just made it to
Homestead, we’d have a really good shot here.”

Reddick’s path to the playoffs was made easy with season-opening victory at the
Daytona International Speedway. He survived a crash-marred race – there were
12 cautions that lasted for 49 of 143 laps – to lead the final 11 laps and beat JRM
teammate Elliott Sadler’s last-lap surge by less than six inches – the closest finish in
Xfinity history.

“Winning in the first race of the year was huge,” Reddick said. “It was a huge sigh
of relief, knowing that no matter may – what horrible things could happen, we were
locked into the playoffs.”

Sandwiched between victories in the first and last races of 2018 were a lot of ups and

188 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2019 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE