What has become a far-too-typical storyline for Reddick, he and his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team had a car capable of winning but needed to overcome some struggles to put himself back in contention and salvage a good result.
While it’s been frustrating coming close on multiple occasions to picking up his second NASCAR Cup win of the 2024 season, Reddick has still racked up eight top-10 finishes in his last nine races.
He’s also put together five consecutive top-10s for the second time this season as he has moved to third in the series standings, just 15 points behind leader and Sunday’s race winner, Kyle Larson.
Reddick started on the pole Sunday and led a race-high 40 laps but lost all his track position when he was forced to pit twice during the break between Stages 2 and 3 because of a loose wheel.
“It was a great recovery for us. We had our issues beginning Stage 3. I thought that was really going to cement our finish towards the back,” Reddick said. “We went with a different (fuel) strategy, had a really good restart. I was behind (Larson) and (Chase Elliott), got by both of them.
“Unfortunately, that move that Kyle was able to catch a lot of people off guard with today got me as well (late in the race). That’s the bummer. We were ahead of him but re-let him get by us.”
Even though Larson got around Reddick to get to the lead by the start of the first overtime, a multi-car wreck sent the race into a second overtime and gave Reddick another chance.
This time, Larson got free for the lead, but Reddick managed to pass Ryan Blaney for second before NASCAR threw a caution on the final lap for a car stopped on the track.
“Obviously, a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second. Honestly, it was a good day,” he said. “Obviously returning to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up one spot short.
“Once we got off Turn 2 there, I knew that was pretty much it. He was going to have to make a mistake.”
Reddick tried to remain upbeat about his team’s performance even has he again came up short on a victory.
“Glad we had a good recovery. Another solid points day,” he said. “We didn’t close the gap on (Larson) that much, but a little bit on (Elliott). In the big picture, it was a great day for the team.
“I think that’s the biggest thing that we’ve been doing really good right now, is we haven’t had always had the smoothest days. Instead of letting them end our days, we found ways to recover from them.
“It feels like it’s been like that the last couple of months.”
