Tyler Reddick‘s playoff hopes suffered another blow following a difficult qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. With just two races remaining to secure a spot in the Round of 8, Reddick, currently 23 points below the cut line, finds his aspirations under pressure after another weekend of fading performance highlighted his struggle to maintain competitiveness.
Concerns Persist After New Hampshire Disappointment
Last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Reddick managed only a 21st place finish, leading to mounting frustration and concern. The driver of the #45 SiriusXM Radio Toyota came into Kansas hoping to rebound, yet the issues that have dogged him all season persisted. After a promising start with a fourth-place qualifying run and early stage points, Reddick’s car steadily lost pace—a recurring problem throughout his 2025 campaign.
“This year has been head-scratching. Places we’re good at, we run like crap at. I don’t know what to think right now.”
– Tyler Reddick, Driver
Playoff Picture Grows More Challenging
Reddick’s recent points deficit stems from a streak of lackluster finishes since the playoffs began. Now 23 points behind the playoff cut, he faces significant pressure to deliver standout performances at the remaining events if he is to advance to the next playoff round. Despite his challenging results, Reddick remains focused, expressing both motivation and urgency as his team faces one of its most pivotal junctures.
“It’s easy to be down, but we have two opportunities to either win or score a lot of points.”
– Tyler Reddick, Driver
Qualifying Consistency but Race Day Struggles
Throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, Reddick has routinely demonstrated speed in qualifying sessions, with an average grid position of 12.2—just slightly trailing his earlier seasons with 23XI Racing. At Kansas, he earned the 12th spot in qualifying with a lap speed of 178.053 mph, outpaced for the pole by fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe at 180.078 mph. However, the transition to race day has exposed performance shortcomings, resulting in finishes averaging three spots worse than his qualifying results this year and preventing critical points accumulation.
“My first year at 23XI and throughout the year last year at times, I feel like Bubba (Wallace) and myself would show up to a race track and be top-four in practice and things looked great,”
– Tyler Reddick, Driver
He continued, noting how initial promise can fade: ‘But it would seem like things would just slide in the wrong direction as the track rubbered in and (we would) lose performance throughout the race.’ Recognizing the pattern, Reddick added:
“We’ve done a better job of leveling that out a bit. It’s just sometimes in practice that’s a thing that can happen, but it’s on us to figure out why that happens and pick up on things to not let that happen.”
Comparing This Season to Previous Success
The challenge facing Reddick’s team is heightened by recent history. In 2024, Reddick claimed the regular-season championship and scored two race wins, capturing a third victory from the pole at Homestead during his 34th start. After thirty races in the current season, however, he remains winless—a sharp contrast that underscores the urgency to rediscover his competitive edge.
Kansas Speedway: Window of Opportunity or More Frustration?
Kansas Speedway, where Reddick last captured a win for Toyota during the fall 2023 event, was circled as a possible turning point for his playoff campaign. But since that victory, his average finish at the 1.5-mile track has declined to 20.6. This marks a clear departure from when Toyota and 23XI Racing dominated the venue, with competitors like Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson taking recent spring event wins and Ross Chastain holding the defending title for the Hollywood Casino 400.
“We had a stretch here where it was a 23XI Toyota or a Toyota car in general, we had a pretty good record here to be able to win races,”
Reddick said, reflecting on past success. But he highlighted ongoing adaptation struggles, adding,
“The car changes, the Goodyear tires change, so naturally you’ve got to keep up with it. I think it’s fair to be nervous. There’s a lot that weighs on this weekend that its super important for us to either win or run top-five all day and score a lot of points.”
Pressure Mounts as Time Runs Out
With only two races left before the playoff field narrows, the challenge for Reddick and his team is daunting. Notably, Reddick has yet to secure a top-20 result on an intermediate track this season, a stark contrast to his historical strength at 1.5-mile circuits where he’s collected three of his eight Cup Series victories. The team’s struggle to capitalize on qualifying speed with sustainable race pace has been a season-long theme.
Assessing Reddick’s Prospects and the Road Ahead
Looking toward the coming weeks, Reddick is cautious about predicting a turnaround but acknowledges possible improvements.
“You look at other mile-and-a-half tracks this year, and we’ve brought cars capable of winning races at those tracks,”
he explained, recalling the last truly comparable race at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May. The subsequent lull has allowed competitors to evolve, adding to uncertainty about where teams will stand at Kansas and beyond.
“I think that just adds to the nerves of the weekend to see how we perform when we get to the race track.”
– Tyler Reddick, Driver
The Stakes for Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing
With his playoff hopes on shaky ground, Reddick finds himself and the 23XI Racing team battling both unpredictability and recent history as they chase the coveted Round of 8 spot. The next two Cup Series races carry immense stakes, not just for Reddick but for every contender near the cutoff. The outcome at Kansas could ultimately define Reddick’s 2025 season and shape the trajectory for one of NASCAR’s most watched drivers.
