By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tyler Reddick picked a walk-out song for driver introductions at Bristol Motor Speedway to match the swirling drama around him.
As he walked out to “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys, it was a subtle acknowledgment of the twists and turns of the way his season off the track has developed.
Reddick had one of his more frustrating weeks of 2022 as he lost his crew for 2023 and lost his championship chances for 2022 in a span of five days.
The 26-year-old driver had announced in July that he would leave Richard Childress Racing following the 2023 season. Childress, the team owner, wasn’t happy that Reddick gave him notice of his decision just an hour before it was announced.
The spurned Childress clapped back Tuesday when he announced that Reddick’s crew would be used by Kyle Busch next year as the two-time Cup champion was hired to replace Reddick a year before Reddick was even set to leave.
Tyler Reddick on losing his crew next season
Tyler Reddick discusses losing the No. 8 team next season — if in fact he races for RCR in 2023.
Childress pledged to obtain a charter and run a third car for Reddick, with more details coming later this month.
But for Reddick, it had to hurt. All he talked about the past two months was racing as hard as he can through the end of 2023 with a crew that has worked well with him.
He appeared to be doing that Saturday at Bristol before getting caught up in an accident that wounded his car to the point of needing extensive repairs on pit road. He ended up failing to advance to the next playoff round by two spots.
“I saw the crash happen,” said Reddick, who had a flat tire and crashed a week earlier at Kansas to put him on the elimination bubble entering Bristol. “I checked up. I just got ran over. … We had two bad races — bad finishes.
“We had two really good race cars [the past two races] and we didn’t capitalize on it and that was enough to miss it.”
Reddick knew he didn’t control his own destiny over the final stage as he was 30 laps down and needed others to fall out to gain the points he needed to advance.
“It feels terrible,” he said. “It’s out of your control. … Hoping for others’ misfortune is no way to really race.”
Now Reddick must navigate the next month, maybe more, knowing his future is somewhat out of his control.
“He said he’s got a plan, and he’s got details for me, so we’ll just see what they are when it’s time to talk,” Reddick said about Childress.
Childress said that hiring Busch to replace Reddick facilitated the crew decision because it would hurt Busch to have one crew his first year and then a different crew in following years.
He told Reddick about the crew change for next year, likely not ironically, about an hour before the Busch hiring was announced.
“It wasn’t tense,” Reddick said. “He was just filling me [in on] what was going on. I understand because I am moving on. All good.”
Tyler Reddick on his future with RCR
Tyler Reddick talks about his meeting with Richard Childress last week, his feelings on not knowing his crew (or possibly even his team) for next season and if 2023 might be a throwaway year for him.
Reddick refused to get into a war of words in the media with his car owner.
“I looked at it from the business point of view, and I feel like how they’re approaching it with Kyle coming in and being with the 8 team. They’re looking ahead to the future and what’s going to be best for them in the long term,” Reddick said.
“I’m sure how people could think it’s personal, but I’m not looking at it that way.”
Working with a new crew next year won’t be anything new for Reddick. He has driven for seven different organizations in the Xfinity Series (three on a full-time or regular part-time basis and four for just some select races).
What he doesn’t want is for 2023 to become a throw-away year of sorts.
“It should come together good … because I work really hard and really…
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