EXCLUSIVE: Tyler Reddick Off to Strong Start For Brad Keselowski Racing

Coming into the season, Tyler Reddick stated that he believed that his Brad Keselowski Racing team could contend for the championship. Coming off of a partial schedule last year that featured three top-fives and nine top-10s, it was easy to reason that the 19-year-old was correct in his statement. So far this year, he has also managed to back that up.

Reddick broke out of the gate strong at Daytona, winning the season opener in a thrilling finish just ahead of fellow championship contender Erik Jones.

“It was huge,” he told OnPitRoad.com of the win. “Coming off the strong runs last year, we knew that we were fast and wanted to get a win early this year. It meant a lot to start the season off-season on a strong note in victory lane.”

He then kept the momentum rolling to both Atlanta and Martinsville, posting top-five finishes in both races. Neither race came without incident, though. At Atlanta, Reddick had a pit road speeding penalty at lap 22. At Martinsville, he spun at lap 34, and sustained damage on a restart at lap 147.

“I feel we’re off to a really good start this year.” he commented. “We had a couple mistakes in the last two races, but we’re able to bounce back and get a pair of top-five finishes, which anytime that you can do that it’s great. Just looking forward to carrying that momentum forward and continuing to post more finishes in the No. 19 Drawtite/Reese Towpower Ford.”

The ability to overcome the adversity is a sign of a champion, and represent the growth that Reddick saw via running the 16 races last season. Beyond learning the trucks and tracks, Reddick says the biggest thing that he learned last year was patience.

“When we would go to a track and weren’t quick right away, I would drive the tires off of it and then would have nothing left. Now going there, it’s about letting the truck come to me and working at getting it quicker,” he commented.

The positive start to the season has Reddick off to a great start this year as he currently sits second in points. The strength so far has shown that Brad Keselwoski Racing has strong trucks, allowing the confidence easily to be there.

“I think it’s about not making many mistakes moving forward so that we can keep running strong every week,” he said.

Reddick will carry the confidence into Kansas at the beginning of May, hoping to post a strong finish in the first trip to the 1.5-mile tri-oval race track.

“I’m looking forward to Kansas,” he commented. “The mile and half tracks are really strong for us. It’s all about having a good body on your truck. We’ve been working hard in the wind tunnel to get the body perfect. I feel that the Brad Keselowski Racing is going to bring a good truck to the track, and we’re going to run well.”