“There’s some improvements we can make”: Tyler Reddick on NASCAR’s short track aero package’s efficiency during COTA Cup race

Tyler Reddick, driving the #45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, scored his second top-five finish of the season at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday. He finished fifth in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

In NASCAR, where the slightest adjustments can make a huge difference, drivers constantly evaluate the performance of their cars. After the COTA race, Reddick provided insights into his experience with NASCAR’s short-track aero packages’ efficiency.

Speaking to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, the 2023 COTA winner shared his thoughts on the handling and drivability of his car compared to last year. He didn’t feel vastly different but admitted there’s room for improvement, particularly in terms of downforce.

“I feel like we, the car didn't feel a whole lot different from last year so I think certainly think just with where this thing's at down force wise there's some improvements we can make. Obviously, we'll look into it and see what comes to mind,” Reddick said to Pockrass.

“I didn't really feel like balance wise we were much different handling or just drivability than when we were last year. So it certainly seems like we can improve,” he continued.

It was a strong day for Tyler Reddick in a race where race winner William Byron and runner-up Christopher Bell dominated the race throughout the 68-lap event.

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“It seemed like we were just decent" - Tyler Reddick on the P5 finish at COTA

Reviewing his fifth-place finish at COTA, the 23XI Racing driver said that his performance wasn’t particularly lacking in any specific area. However, he feels that a mistake made at the start of Stage 3, he believes, set him back in the race.

Despite feeling that the #45 team was competitive, he admitted they needed to analyze and work on their mistakes to get a better result. Reflecting on his COTA performance, Tyler Reddick said (via NASCAR on NBC):

“I didn’t feel like we were really bad in any one spot — it seemed like we were just decent. I would run were they would put me. I feel like we got behind when I made the mistake at the beginning of stage three.

"That kind of hurt us for a bit after we came back out on tires there in stage three. I thought we were pretty good, but I don’t know. We will go to work on it and see what we were missing, but a little bit adds up a lot on this big race track.”

Tyler Reddick is 10th in the Cup Series points table with 171 points after six races.