"It definitely bothers all of us": Tyler Reddick's playoff hopes ride on Richmond amid ongoing winless streak

Tyler Reddick reflected on his winless streak this season and noted that he can't let the pressure get to his head. The 23XL driver had a shot at winning the Cook Out 400, but was caught in a late-race wreck that derailed his run.

Reddick has had a rather middling run this season. Despite a pole at COTA and several top-five starts, the Californian has failed to secure a race win so far. Meanwhile, his teammate Bubba Wallace clinched his playoff spot with a Brickyard win.

Ahead of Saturday's (August 16) 400-lap event, Reddick had this to say about his winless streak (via Racer.com):

"It definitely bothers all of us. It’s important for it to be motivational and motivate yourself to win, but you have to be careful not to let the wave of the drought bring us down as a group. It’s an important balance. You want to put that pressure on to get the job done, but too much and it can swallow you up.”

Tyler Reddick was last year's regular-season champion and enjoyed a 15-point bonus in the postseason. He currently has a single playoff point to his name, a far cry from his 2024 campaign. When asked about his playoff run without the points cushion, he replied:

""Have I looked ahead to that yet, though? I’ve understood that, but I haven’t sat and thought about what Darlington and the first round need to look like. I acknowledge it’s not going to be as easy. Not that it was easy last year, honestly. But when you have more playoff points, you allow yourself more mistakes."

With Austin Dillon winning at Richmond, Tyler Reddick now needs to either secure a win at Daytona or rack up 54 points to clinch his playoff spot.

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Tyler Reddick faces a major setback at the Richmond race

Tyler Reddick had high hopes for Saturday's race, starting on the front row behind polesitter Ryan Preece. He even led 41 laps at one point and was well within contention for his maiden of the season.

However, on lap 181, Ty Gibbs was wrestling with Daniel Suarez and tagged Reddick's rear, sending him spinning into the barriers. The #45 Toyota driver was able to get repairs and rejoined the field on the lead lap, but ultimately finished four laps down at 34th. Reddick had won Stage 1 and earned a playoff point from it, which took his total to two.

Tyler Reddick is now in a fight with Alex Bowman for the final playoff spots, but the 23XL driver has a 29-point advantage over the latter. He's currently 89 points clear of the cutline and ranks seventh in the driver's standings with 125 points behind regular-season winner William Byron.