Tyler Reddick Gateway 2016 Recap

Tyler Reddick’s (@TylerReddick) chance to win the Drivin’ For Linemen 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) Motorsports Park ended with a bump 10 laps from the checkered flag.  
 
A late afternoon thunderstorm washed out qualifying and the starting lineup was set per the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rule book, giving Reddick the seventh-place starting position for the 160-lap, 200-mile race. 
 
Reddick settled into eighth place after the initial green flag and was holding firm to that position to when the second caution waved on lap 26.  The majority of the leaders pitted one lap later, but crew chief Doug Randolph kept Reddick on the track and he cycled into the lead.  The race went green on lap 31 and he maintained the lead until the Caution Clock expired on lap 66, bringing out the third caution.
 
Reddick pitted on lap 67 for four tires and adjustments, and lined up second for the restart when the race went green on lap 71.  He was racing teammate Daniel Hemric for the fourth position on lap 73 when Hemric dove to his inside at the entrance to Turn 3.  Hemric slipped sideways and spun, bringing out the fourth yellow of the evening.
 
He restarted fourth on lap 78 and moved up to third-place one lap later.  He maintained his position until late in the run when his truck got too tight in the center of the corners.  Reddick was fifth when the Caution Clock expired on lap 114. 
 
On the next round of pit stops, crew chief Randolph called for a four-tire stop when Reddick pitted for four tires and adjustments – unlike most of the leaders, who chose a two-tire strategy.  Reddick lined up eighth when the race went green on lap 119, one of just two of the leaders armed with four tires.
 
The fresh rubber worked to Reddick’s advantage.  He picked off two positions when the race went green, and two more on the following restart on lap 124.  Reddick fell in line fifth on lap 127 and stayed there until lap 145 when the seventh yellow slowed the pace.
 

The race went green on lap 149 and Reddick executed one of the best restarts of his young career.  As trucks ahead of him bounced off each other in Turn 1, Reddick motored by on the inside, briefly grabbing the lead at the exit of Turn 2.  But at the entrance to Turn 3, Reddick was tapped from behind by Ben Rhodes.  The contact sent him into John Hunter Nemechek, then he bounced off the wall then spun into the path of Matt Crafton, heavily damaging his vehicle.  Reddick drove back to the pits but couldn’t continue. He was credited with 25th-place in the final rundown.

BKR PR