NASCAR CUP SERIES: FREEWAY INSURANCE 500

October 18, 2026

Tyler Reddick

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Tyler Reddick.

We'll open it up for questions.

Q. At what point in the race did you realize you had a car capable of winning? The final restart, were you determined to take the top being on two scuff tires?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I mean, I don't know, there were definitely more signs of it in practice yesterday than stage one or stage two. We took two tires early in the race, had a bit of a hiccup I think with the 48 maybe.

We weren't really ever at the forefront of our strategy until the end of the race there. I thought we had a really good stage three, just kind of in the mix. Got to pit road, jumped most of the cars except Bubba. It was going to be interesting to see how that was going to play out.

He definitely fired up a little bit better than we did. If it ran green, should have been our friend. We had the caution, didn't get to see how that played out.

Yeah, I probably had one of the worst launching all day. I didn't push Chase, the inside, Blaney got up alongside of me. It wasn't a good launch on my part.

Those guys I say on older tires, they only had seven laps on them, they kind of slid up a little bit. I had a hole through the middle, I was able to shoot it.

Yeah, I was just surprised getting to Chase that easily. Again, right side tires and they were scuffs. Yeah, I was able to get to his inside a lot easier than I thought I was going to. I cleared him right away, which was very key in getting some distance from the 12.

Q. How nice is it to be back where you were at the start of the year?

TYLER REDDICK: Oh, man, yeah. It's been a long time. To go six months without getting it done was tough on the 45. But it was really cool in the fashion we did it. A big day for us in the Chase, a big day for Rockstar, first win with them on the car, which is awesome.

Yeah, I guess it wasn't really a perfect executed day for us again, but we just stayed in the mix, fought our way back up there, as the other drivers and teams had mistakes and miscues.

Q. How do you race Talladega when you're all relying on each other for some help yet all racing for the championship?

TYLER REDDICK: We'll have to sort it out at the end of the stages. We'll do our best to try and populate at the front as best we can.

Q. You entered today 114 out, now you're 56 out. How does your mindset shift now that it seems more realistic that you have a shot?

TYLER REDDICK: I think for us, week to week primarily still just focus on trying to win races. If we can have a calm 'Dega, get stage points, finish with a car in one piece, I think we'll have another good points day. Then it will fall to Martinsville.

Historically it's not been a great place for us. I mean, I like the progression that we've made in the last year. I mean, yes, we hadn't won on a short track yet, but we were able to check that box today. The work we made on just making our short track stuff better, me getting better as a driver.

Like today, today was very frustrating at times, but everyone kind of kept their heads in it. We just kept chipping away with the balance on our car. Put us in a spot to be able to capitalize in the end.

Look ahead to Martinsville, I'm excited about it. I feel like I don't say that too often about Martinsville. I'm always excited to learn and get better. Very excited to see what we'll have there.

Q. It's been about six months since Victory Lane. You were feeling kind of frustrated coming into the weekend. Now seems like a complete 180. Talk about what it took to keep up the confidence, keep up the mindset, within your team, within yourself, to get to this point?

TYLER REDDICK: We just had to keep showing up, stay focused on the details. We did a good job of just fighting through the things that we needed to work on today, just making the right calls at the right time.

Again, earlier in the race we did a two-tire call and it really backfired on us. I was just proud of Billy still, even with all that, just going right back to it again knowing it was the right call for us.

Yeah, many, many times throughout the year we've had things happen that in hindsight you wish you'd do differently. Today was an opportunity where it would have been very easy to say, man, two tires early really bit us, let's not do that again.

Billy stuck to what he knew was best, and we executed that at the end.

Q. You said yesterday that clean days matter. You felt like you hadn't had a clean day in a while. How do you feel like the crew performed today?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I mean, we still had a couple struggles along the way. One of it just the 48 coming in when we were leaving. A couple things here and there.

Again, like our other wins earlier in the year, we just kept fighting all day long. We were able to kind of just claw our way back into it.

We had some other competitors have issues, mistakes. We were able to just stay in the mix today, be in position in the end to make the move, make it count.

Q. In the morning it started raining. The track kind of became more green. Throughout the day, more stuff on the track, how did the conditions feel for you?

TYLER REDDICK: It started off a little bit different than normal. As the race evolved, it turned into what I feel like Phoenix normally is.

I think that was good for us as the day progressed. But yeah, it was a little bit different to start.

Q. In the longer green flag runs earlier in the day, did you experiment with different lines?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I think as a driver, you're always trying to work on that stuff. I was kind of hinting at we weren't in a good spot at the beginning of the race. Billy was on me about not running the bottom. I was adamant about running the bottom.

Like I said, we had moments in the race where I know tensions were high. We stayed at it, kept working at it, and we just continued to get better throughout the day.

Q. As a family man, how are you able to tell your kids as they grow older the highest of highs at the beginning of the year are there, then you get to the coldest of colds, then rewarding after today?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, well, this is where my wife reminded me. My children are six and one. I got to not talk to them like I'm talking to another adult.

I guess just for them, I don't know if I'd necessarily say, Hey, this is how I need to handle this. For me on the high moments, it's awesome to celebrate them, with my family. I think this is the first race of the year -- first win of the year they haven't been here for unfortunately. I was still able to get on the phone and talk to them a little bit.

But yeah, just trying to balance out just all of it. My family really helps just bring me back to where I need to be as a father when the race is over, get the kids in the car, carry them in the car if they're already passed out asleep, get on plane, get home, get them back to school the next day.

I think it kind of helps you balance it all out. Makes the celebration, the highs really awesome. When things on the racing side aren't going great, family helps you get through it.

Q. As a driver, how do you think the reduction in spoiler size is going to change the driving, the drafting, if at all?

TYLER REDDICK: I mean, it will be a little bit, but I don't think it's going to be a major change. It will probably feel very similar to Daytona, I'd say.

Q. When Jesse was in here last night, he talked about Martinsville as well. You circled that you're excited about it. He said with his dirt background, it's hard to search for a lane. When you look at Martinsville and your background, what is it about that track that's maybe been a challenge for you?

TYLER REDDICK: I mean, I think, yeah, that's a good part of it. Dirt racing, you're moving feet when you go from the top or bottom. Then again, the difference between hitting the bottom right at Martinsville or here is a matter of inches.

I think the biggest thing is just figuring out, okay, how to make speed driving a car straight. That's just been a constant process since my first days in NASCAR.

At a true short track like Martinsville, it's so different than what I grew up racing on the dirt short tracks. It's been a process figuring that out. Got great people around me kind of piecing it together.

The results don't say they got a lot better or not. I feel like every time we go there, I'm learning a good bit from our own experiences, from my teammates.

Yeah, we'll just see how it goes. But it has been a challenge for me just trying to understand what I need to do.

Q. A big celebration today. Climbed up on the fence. What are you feeling?

TYLER REDDICK: Again, I think I told someone earlier, making up for lost time. It had been a while since I won. Yeah, it meant a lot to win today.

Q. Sometime down the line you're thinking back on this race, what are you going to remember most about it?

TYLER REDDICK: I'm normally very against two tire calls. I don't know, just how I've always been.

Yeah, it didn't work out earlier in the day for us. I remember there were points in the race we were all pretty unhappy with some of the balance things we were fighting.

We just kept staying at it, fighting, getting closer and closer to the front.

Yeah, not every day is going to be an easy one or a smooth one. You're going to have ups and downs. Certainly this day felt like that. Everyone just kept thinking what can we do next. We just kept our heads in it.

Q. Look at this from an organization standpoint, a tough Chase for yourself and Bubba. What does it mean to finally bring one home for the people back at the shop, revamp confidence for the rest of the Chase?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, it was big. I think everyone knew coming into this one, to close this year out, whether it's 23XI's opportunities in the Chase or winning races at 23XI, we all understood to close this year out, we really need to get it done.

To be able to have the speed and be up there in the mix like Bubba and I were today was a really big deal. Even more so to clinch the manufacturer's championship today, even more reason to get the job done. Hey, one less thing to worry about as we close this thing out.

It was really awesome to be able to deliver that for Toyota today as well, too. I don't know if they're expecting me to be able to do it for them, but I did it for them.

Q. Your teammate Corey Heim. We've seen his development. He was able to bring home a fifth-place finish today. As a teammate and mentor, talk about what you see out of him as a driver, how he's evolved over his rookie campaign this year?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, how hard he works at it is really fun and awesome to see. I feel like I work really hard at being good on Sundays. It's more than just the Sunday itself, it's the week, the preparation, it's how you go about it. Corey does a lot of things on a very high level.

To see, to hear he ran fifth, doesn't surprise me one bit. That's just how he goes about it. I remember there was one point in the race I saw him in the field, I knew he was kind of not quite where he needed to be yet. Just the way he goes about the day, about the race, he's really sharp and he's going to be extremely good.

Q. We've heard you talk for so many weeks about trying to get a clean race. You're within one race of the points leader. Can you give me a sense of it seems like from this perspective the mindset has been let's just get through a race. Now with three to go, you are a close championship contender. How does that mindset change to let's just get through a race to three weeks from now we could still be the champions?

TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, it's still one week at a time. I feel like we did that at the beginning of the year. That won't change. We'll just take it one race at a time and try to make the most of each day.

Yeah, Talladega is going to paint the picture of where things are going to be. I'd say either way, whether Talladega goes good or Talladega goes really bad, how we approach and show up to Martinsville is going to be the same. We're going to go in that race with a very big emphasis on being better than we've been in the past.

Then yeah, whether we're in it or not when we go to Homestead, same thing. Hopefully we have a smooth Talladega and get even closer. I think we're going to take one race at a time and get the most out of each day.

THE MODERATOR: Tyler, thank you.

TYLER REDDICK: Thank you.