By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
Rookie Tyler Reddick’s consistency continued Sunday evening in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a race where he finished eighth.
Reddick rolled off in the fifth starting position in his No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet that honored the late Army SGT Norman Lane Tollett.
However, Reddick’s biggest complaint of the evening was the handling of his Chevy.
“I would be too loose in Turns 1 and 2 but then too tight in Turns 3 and 4. We tried a lot of different adjustments and strategy calls to try to adjust the handling,” said Reddick.
Reddick went on to be the top running rookie in each stage, finishing fourth, 13th, and 11th and eighth.
Marching 👊@TylerReddick | @alscoinc #RCR #CocaCola600 pic.twitter.com/gDxpuZOl3X
— RCR (@RCRracing) May 25, 2020
The end of the race was not without a late caution, however.
With two laps remaining, William Byron spun with a flat tire bringing out the yellow and setting up the field for a green-white checkered.
While then leader Chase Elliott decided to come down pit road, Reddick opted to stay out on track.
"I want to race, let's go for it," @TylerReddick tells his @alscoinc team.
The No. 8 Chevy will stay out under this yellow.
— RCR Updates (@RCRupdates) May 25, 2020
“We decided to stay out and go for it on that green-white-checkered, and almost got a top-five finish out of it,” said Reddick. “It was an honor to have SGT. Norman L. Tollett’s name above my windshield tonight, and I hope we made his friends and family proud.”
Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 turned out to be the longest race in NASCAR history at 607.6 miles and further it was Reddick’s second Top-10 in his last three starts.
Reddick has a 31 point lead in the rookie of the year standings over Cole Custer heading into Wednesday’s Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte.
“I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to [Charlotte Motor Speedway] on Wednesday,” stated Reddick.