Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway… This weekend marks the first time the NASCAR Cup Series will be running on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. Reddick does have two Cup Series starts at the track on the concrete surface, with his best finish of fourth coming during last fall’s event. Reddick also has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, winning the 2019 fall race with crew chief Randall Burnett, along with two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He also has two NASCAR Truck Series starts and two top-five finishes at Bristol.
Dirt Track Savvy… Both Reddick and his crew chief, Randall Burnett, came to NASCAR from dirt racing backgrounds. Reddick began racing on dirt at age four in Outlaw Karts before moving on to midgets, dirt late models and sprint cars. During that time, he became the youngest person to qualify on the pole for the World 100 at Eldora Speedway, as well as the youngest winner at the East Bay Winter Nationals and in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Burnett grew up in Fenton, Missouri, where he often built and raced his own late models at local tracks before moving out to attend school at UNC Charlotte. Burnett continues to be an avid dirt racing fan today.
iRacing Success… On Wednesday night, Reddick climbed behind the wheel of his virtual No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the kick-off event of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. After advancing through his qualifying heat, Reddick rode the high line to a second-place finish in the main feature.
About Bet MGM… BetMGM is a market leading sports betting and gaming entertainment company, pioneering the online gaming industry. Born out of a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Entain (formerly GVC), BetMGM has exclusive access to all of MGM Resorts’ U.S. land-based and online sports betting, major tournament poker, and online gaming businesses. Utilizing Entain’s U.S.-licensed, state of the art technology, BetMGM offers sports betting and online gaming via market leading brands including BetMGM, Borgata Casino, Party Casino and Party Poker. Founded in 2018, BetMGM is headquartered in New Jersey.
TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:
While they weren’t NASCAR vehicles, what are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface after seeing the Bristol Dirt Nationals take place last week?
“I saw a lot of great racing and a really fast track for those divisions that ran last week. We saw a couple bumps develop in Turns 3 and 4, likely because of the rain, but overall it was a very fast track for those cars. That’s exciting to me because our Cup cars are so much heavier with more power and less tire underneath us, so we should have some great racing this weekend. I think one thing that will be interesting to see if it unfolds is if two lanes of competitive racing on the track will develop with the Cup cars at the same time. But regardless, from what I saw this past week, I think it’s going to be a good race. It was just really cool to watch. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, and I went up to Bristol last Friday afternoon to check it out, touch the dirt and really understand how it was going so far. To see how quick these late models were going was amazing. 250 laps is a lot for a dirt track, so the track will change quite a bit during the race on Sunday. It should be exciting for fans and I’m looking forward to being behind the wheel of the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for it.”
What were some of the takeaways from your visit to Bristol last Friday on how the track has been prepared?
“There’s a lot of things to look at. The track says they took banking out, but it still has a lot of banking in it, so that was wild to see. There’s a lot of dirt on this racetrack, and it’s really incredible to see how they all brought it together. They had a lot of equipment out there and were trying a lot of things on the track this past week. I think it was great Bristol had that week of racing with so many different entries ahead of NASCAR’s weekend there. Bristol now has a better idea of what the track is going to do with so many different cars having been on it, that now they can get the track where they want it to be for us.”
Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track… With the NASCAR Cup Series taking to dirt for the first time since 1970, Richard Childress Racing will compete in the inaugural event at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Before the main feature on Sunday, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick will run two 50-minute practice sessions and a qualifying heat to determine the starting lineup. Both Dillon and Reddick are armed with dirt backgrounds and have spent significant time preparing for this unique race with their teams.
Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway… While Sunday’s race will make history on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt oval, Richard Childress Racing has found success on the half-mile’s typical concrete surface. In 179 NASCAR Cup Series starts, the Welcome, N.C. organization has scored nine wins, 35 top-five, and 71 top-10 finishes at the Tennessee short track.
Catch the Action… The NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race will be televised live Sunday, March 28, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
