Tyler Riddick’s ‘Really Good Place’ enters the playoffs

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick is back in the Cup Series qualifiers. He took two wins and added confidence based on his progress on the road courses. Simply put, it’s in a good place and ready to go.

Reddick made the comments during Playoff Media Day. He made it clear that he was excited to start the playoffs at Darlington Raceway considering he was on the cusp of a win over the weekend. He also knows that his date with crew chief Randall Burnett makes the dream of the championship “more realistic”.

“[I’m] In a really good place, honestly,” Riddick told Heavy. “We’ve won two races this year. It was cycles on the way. But that wasn’t always my strong suit though. The oval has been good for us too, and we have a great opportunity.

“I mean, out of that thing, we’re going straight to Darlington, a place that has been really good for me most of my Cup career and my Xfinity career. So yeah, running second in the spring, which is a great way to start everything over.”

Besides entering the playoffs with additional experience, Reddick will also have confidence based on solid performance on the upcoming tracks. He has runners-up at Texas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Charlotte Roval, and Darlington Raceway in his career, and he knows he can recreate that success with more opportunities.

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Reddick will have to use some strategy

GTTyler Reddick can use strategy to move through the early rounds.

Riddick is in a solid position overall with his entry into the second elimination match. He achieved two wins and is eighth in the standings. However, he is only five points above the minimum, so he cannot afford any errors.

There will be times during the early qualifying races where Reddick will have to make a decision. Is he trying to get something extra out of his car and fighting to win, or is he focused on accumulating points? Pushing to win can pay off big, but it can also lead to a race-ending wreck that eliminates him from the Round of Sixteen or Round of Twelfth.

“I mean, every race, just do one step at a time, one race at a time,” Riddick explained. “I mean, we’ll see if we have a car that can win a race and how hard the pressure is to do that.

“And be realistic, don’t go crazy,” Riddick added. “I feel like that’s how you put yourself in trouble. When the playoffs come, the stress comes in, you tell yourself you have to take your driving to another level. And that’s when you follow the mistakes. So just realize these things and stay on track and make the most of the days when You have “.

Avoiding mistakes will be critical in the round of 12

GTTyler Riddick prepares to train at Road America.

The strategy aspect will be key during round 16. If Reddick can win or secure enough points to move into the round of 12, he will deal some basic cards. He will race first at Texas Motor Speedway, a fairly standard intermediate track, before taking on Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Roval.

How exactly does one prepare for the Talladega massacre and Charlotte Ruffal’s unique design? There’s no tried or true method, but Riddick knows that how he performs at Texas Motor Speedway will affect how he approaches top speed.

“You get in the car in Texas and you go for a run at your usual race,” Riddick said. “You go to Talladega, maybe come up with a game plan for that. Like, we’re in a place where we can play it safe [or] We are in a place where we must go and attack in Talladega, putting ourselves in this danger.

“Then, you know, we go to the Roval and we start it no matter what our points situation is. Get in there and try to win the race, whether we’re in a safe place or not. In many ways, this race makes an interesting Round 12, but I don’t know what If Talladega will be successful or not if you have the right mindset.”

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