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Richard Childers (center) addressed the future of Tyler Riddick.
There have been some questions about Tyler Reddick’s future at RCR in the wake of his announcement that he will be going to 23XI Racing in 2024. Richard Childress has shut down the NASCAR rumors by confirming that Reddick will be back at a #8 Chevrolet.
“Well, after their announcement, I met — I thought about it a lot that night, I thought about it a lot, and it’s more than just one person,” Childress said during a post-race media release on July 31. “It’s about a team. I stayed up most of the night thinking about What should I do, and how I wanted to deal with it.
“I went the next day and told the whole team that it wasn’t an ideal circumstance the way things went, but we’re going to give it our all this year, and we’ll see where we go next year.”
The “Look Where We Go Next Year” comment caught the attention of NBC reporter Nate Ryan, who followed up with a question about Reddick’s contract status. Childress responded and confirmed that the two-time winner of the Cup Series would return to the #8 Chevrolet.
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Post-race comments prompted Reddick’s questions
GTRichard Childress (right) made multiple comments about Riddick’s departure.
Childress, understandably, faced questions about his relationship with Riddick after the #8 driver won his second race of the year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The context is that Childress compared Riddick’s ad to an ad made by Kevin Harvick in 2012.
“So Kevin Harvick and I talked through his entire deal, and we made a joint announcement,” Childress told NBC Sports Correspondent Parker Kligerman. “He won four races that year, and we almost won the championship. It just didn’t happen like that.”
While Childress expressed his displeasure with his post-race comments, he also took the time to talk about Reddick’s potential. He said Team 8 has a “heck of a shot” to win the Cup Series Championship after two wins in one month.
The win proved something for RCR
GTTeam #8 celebrates their victory at the IMS.
The win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was meaningful for many reasons. For Reddick, he secured his place in the playoffs and added more playoff points to his score total. For RCR, he showed the team can be competitive again.
Childress addressed this topic during the post-race piston. He said the team was working and the lights were on in the building. However, he noted, the responsible implementation of the research was not particularly competitive. Riddick’s win twice in July changed that conversation.
Finally, the win had added meaning for Team #8. Crew chief Randall Burnett and all team members have spent the past two weeks dealing with the fallout from Reddick’s announcement of 23XI Racing. There were questions about how they handled the news, but they dispelled doubts.
“I mean, obviously, any win feels special,” Burnett said during the post-race. “I think it’s just hats off to our guys. Being able to be big enough and put that behind them and go out and do the job at hand, that’s what we can do better. That’s what we have to do going forward.”
“I think it shows the resilience of this team, the dedication by everyone on this team to be able to progress in a big place like here and not have any mistakes today and everyone working together and reaching the common goal, I think he speaks a lot about this 8 team.”
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