Tyler Reddick finished 11th at Kansas Speedway, but his comments after the NASCAR Cup Series race pointed to a deeper issue for 23XI Racing. The No. 45 Toyota struggled to maintain speed during the Hollywood Casino 400, even after the team made several changes.
Reddick said the team came close to finding the right setup at times, but the car kept losing performance.
The result was a frustrating NASCAR race for Reddick, especially after he won the spring race at Kansas. Instead of fighting for another win, Reddick spent much of the race trying to recover.
His comments also showed how difficult the day was for 23XI Racing as the team searched for answers throughout the NASCAR race.
NASCAR: Tyler Reddick Says 23XI Racing Could Not Find Speed
Reddick said 23XI Racing made more adjustments than usual but never found a setup that worked for the full race.
“Yeah, we just never really had it,” Reddick said. “We made more teams than we probably ever have. And there was times where I feel like we were getting close. Then we’d lose it again.”
The No. 45 showed some progress when Reddick moved into fifth place. However, the improvement did not last.
“But, you know, I feel like we got it where it needed to be there when we settled into fifth. And then we just kind of went away again.”
Reddick said the 11th-place finish did not reflect what 23XI Racing expected from the NASCAR race.
“Yeah, I mean, it still wasn’t a good finish for us, subpar for sure,” Reddick said.
NASCAR: Reddick Reveals How Quickly Things Changed
At one point, Reddick believed the No. 45 Toyota could challenge for the win. He saw an opportunity to compete with the leading cars before the team fell back again.
“Yeah, there was a moment there where I thought it was going to shake out where we’d contend with the 11 and the two, but yeah, we just, we got behind again and didn’t have a good day here.”
Reddick said 23XI Racing now needs to understand why the car lost its speed.
“Yeah, we’ve got to get to the bottom of it for sure,” he said.
The comments added to the frustration around the NASCAR result because Reddick had already shown strong pace at Kansas earlier in the season.
NASCAR: Bubba Wallace Also Highlights 23XI Racing Struggles
Bubba Wallace also endured a difficult NASCAR race for 23XI Racing. He was involved in contact during a restart and explained how quickly the incident developed.
“Yeah, I was going to shoot top of 22, but he kind of blocked it, so it was good. I was just going to maybe look at the middle, but the time I thought of that I was already turned.”
Wallace said the No. 77 appeared to cause the contact with the No. 54.
“And so, just to me, it looks like the 77 just hooked right into the 54,” he said.
Wallace also said he noticed Reddick was struggling while driving his own car.
“Yeah, I just missed something as a whole,” Wallace said. “I noticed the 45. When I was bad, I was looking for the 45, and he wasn’t there. So it’s just, we just missed it as a group.”
Reddick summed up the NASCAR race with a simple conclusion.
“So, yeah, I don’t know, man. And I, yeah, just a bit of a head-scratcher to be that far off one.”
NASCAR Cup Series Driver Calls Kansas a “Head-Scratcher” After 23XI Racing Struggles