Tyler Reddick went behind the wall during Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway with a mechanical issue, throwing another wrench in his quest for the Regular Season Championship.
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Running 20th on Lap 131 during a pit cycle, Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing machine suddenly went off the pace as fluid began spewing out of his Toyota. A manufacturer spokesperson said that a splitter stay from another car went through the radiator of his car and punctured the oil cooler. Fluid on the racing surface resulted in a caution.
Reddick returned to the race 30 laps down and was ultimately scored in the 36th position. He started Sunday’s race 13th and finished 10th in the opening frame before the catastrophic issue.
After leading the Cup Series by 129 points after Watkins Glen, Reddick, a five-time winner in 2026, surrendered the top spot for the first time all season last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. He suffered a power steering issue in Wine Country and lost multiple laps before finishing 36th.
Before that, Reddick contended for the win with teammate Corey Heim at Naval Base Coronado, but cut a tire with two laps to go and finished 25th. Two weeks earlier at Michigan International Speedway, he was involved in a Lap 83 restart crash and finished 35th.
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Officially, Hamlin leads the Cup Series standings by 44 points after the 23XI bossman finished third at Chicagoland. Since May 10, Reddick has scored 173 fewer points than Hamlin.
“Obviously, the 45 just continues to bleed out here with some bad luck stuff going on or some mechanicals,” Hamlin told TNT Sports. “Once we get that figured out, we’ll race it out.”