Last year, Tyler Reddick raced to victory at Talladega Superspeedway without a final assist from any teammates. Most of the other Toyota drivers were wiped out in a crash with 33 laps to go in a drafting attempt gone wrong. Reddick was one of the few who escaped damage, and he was the only Toyota driver to finish in the top 10. After the checkered flag flew, it was Reddick standing in victory lane.
Fast forward to Saturday’s (June 28) race at EchoPark Speedway, where Reddick had another strong run. He led a total of 18 laps and won the second stage in a photo finish over Chase Elliott. However, when it came time to battle for the win, Reddick found himself with not much help in sight, either from the other 23XI Racing drivers or their Toyota allies. Elliott won the race thanks to some crucial drafting help from teammate Alex Bowman, a luxury that Reddick did not have.
In a race where mayhem was plentiful, Reddick was the only Toyota driver who avoided a major setback. Christopher Bell spun in turn 4 on lap 57, setting off a multicar incident that also damaged Bubba Wallace. The biggest accident of the night, on lap 69, knocked out Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and damaged Erik Jones. Riley Herbst crashed on lap 110. Ty Gibbs, who led 32 laps and was having a good run, made contact with Shane van Gisbergen on lap 176, triggering another incident that collected John Hunter Nemechek. Wallace spun again on lap 185, and Jones went for a slide 10 laps later but avoided further damage. Reddick, who was running a Superman-inspired wrap, must have felt like Superman from all the calamity he dodged.
As the race approached its conclusion, Reddick was left with few options. Gibbs recovered from the incident with van Gisbergen and tried to stick with Reddick, but the No. 54 dropped out of the top 10 with 10 laps to go. Jones was still on the lead lap and trying to work his way through the field, but he was too far back to link up with Reddick. Even Elliott was behind Reddick with seven laps to go, but that was the point where Bowman got shuffled out of the lead and dropped back to where Elliott was. The Hendrick drivers did not stay perfectly together for the rest of the race, but their teamwork made the difference.
With three laps to go, Reddick was second and trying to catch Brad Keselowski’s Ford. Jones was moving forward, but he was blocked from Reddick by the Chevrolets of Elliott, Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the Ford of Zane Smith. With two laps to go, Reddick had an opportunity to try to pass Keselowski on the frontstretch, but Elliott reacted first and swept past the No. 45. Then Stenhouse and Bowman drafted past Reddick in the next set of corners, which effectively ended his shot at the win. He crossed the finish line fourth with Jones in fifth, too little, too late to mount another challenge.
The aftermath of last weekend’s race leaves Reddick standing alone, both in terms of the finish and the points standings. Since Elliott earned his first win of the season, Reddick is now the highest non-winner in points, sixth overall but 13th on the playoff grid. Elliott was the fifth new winner in the last six races, bringing the season’s total number of winners up to 12. With eight races remaining in the regular season, the pressure on the No. 45 team to win is going to get tighter.
However, the good news for Reddick is that no other non-winners are close to him in points. Chris Buescher, the 14th driver on the playoff grid, trails Reddick by 76 points. Bowman is behind Reddick by 89, and Wallace, the bubble driver, trails his teammate by 105. It would take a major collapse by the No. 45 team for any of Buescher, Bowman or Wallace to be within striking distance.
Reddick’s path to the playoffs hinges much more on who wins during the next eight races. Any more new winners that push the total number closer to 16 would make things increasingly difficult for Reddick. However, there has never been an instance in the NASCAR Cup Series where the playoff field included 16 winners. Chances are good that someone will get in on points, and now that Elliott has a win, Reddick is in line to take the first of those spots.
The other option for Reddick is to get a win himself, but that does not feel like a guarantee with the limited opportunities remaining. Until Saturday night in Atlanta, it had been a while since the No. 45 had been a contender for a victory. Reddick had not scored a top-five finish since Darlington Raceway in April, which was also the last race until last weekend in which he led more than 10 laps. Compare that to last year’s 400-mile Darlington race where Reddick led 174 laps, 62 more than he has led in every race this season combined. Reddick has generally avoided bad finishes in 2025, especially compared to teammates Wallace and Herbst, but the No. 45 team is lacking the speed that propelled Reddick to the regular season championship last year, and he is still searching for his first win of 2025.
Perhaps Atlanta will be a turning point for the No. 45 team. If Reddick gets a victory and starts building playoff points, he will join Hamlin and Bell as Toyota’s biggest threats to win the championship. Yet until he gets that win, Reddick is going to stay stuck in the awkward place of likely heading for the postseason, but not certainly. A few more teammates during the closing laps of last weekend’s race could have entirely changed that scenario.
Bryan began writing for Frontstretch in 2016. He has penned Up to Speed for the past eight years. A lifelong student of auto racing, Bryan is a published author and automotive historian. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Southern Kentucky.