Tyler Reddick Talks the “Disheartening” Superspeedway Product of NASCAR’s Next Gen Car

What’s Happening?

During a discussion on Door Bumper Clear about superspeedway racing, 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick spoke about the “disheartening” racing NASCAR’s Next Gen car puts on at those tracks.

The October 14 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is still weeks away, but that hasn’t kept the NASCAR community from talking about the state of superspeedway racing.

Recent talks have surrounded the addition of a fourth stage at these tracks to prevent teams from using aggressive fuel-saving strategies. Teams utilize these strategies to maintain track position as with NASCAR’s Next Gen car, passing on superspeedways is not as easy as it used to be.

While this could be a solution to the fuel-saving issue, the idea has its detractors, including 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick.

On Monday, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion told the hosts of Door Bumper Clear that he opposes the addition of a fourth stage, saying he thinks “I just don’t believe that a speedway race should be more valuable for points.”

Currently, the Coca-Cola 600 is the only NASCAR Cup Series race that has a fourth stage, and thus, one more set of stage points to divvy out. Reddick agrees that the 600 is worthy of this status, but does not want it applied to Daytona and Talladega.

While he opposes an additional stage, Reddick, like many others, thinks that fixing the car is the right move, saying, “the reason we’re saving fuel is because when we’re going all out, we can’t pass one another.” The veteran driver even compared the current car, introduced in 2022 as the Next Gen, to the previous generation car, saying that no longer being able to be aggressive is “disheartening.”

“With this car, it’s so disheartening at times, right? You want to be aggressive when you’re sitting 20th, but your only hope of marching forward is by just hoping other people get impatient.” — Tyler Reddick

This is a sentiment other drivers have expressed, with some citing luck as the key factor in winning at Daytona or Talladega in the Next Gen car. Though, others are quick to point out that in the past, underdogs have had a shot to walk away as winner at these tracks like Trevor Bayne in the 2011 Daytona 500.

Modern Superspeedway Racing

This discussion is far from new, with many drivers and fans making the same comparisons in recent seasons. Every time NASCAR heads to a superspeedway, it’s very likely that NASCAR social media users flood platforms with videos of superspeedway races from the past, showing drivers passing freely and making late moves to win a race.

This disappoint has even bled into NASCAR’s premier event, the Daytona 500, with drivers both active and retired like Tony Stewart saying the race doesn’t mean the same to him anymore, as “anybody can win.”

Reddick even agreed that the race has lost some of its status as of late. With the Toyota driver, once again, citing the nature of the style of racing put on at the tracks, saying, “For me, it has lost some of it because of the way the racing plays out.”

Nonetheless, there is no confirmation that NASCAR is going to add a fourth stage to these races. NASCAR’s Managing Director of Communications, Mike Forde, who initially mentioned these discussions on an episode of Hauler Talk, was quick to note that adding a fourth stage “hasn’t been seriously discussed.”

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