“Got to clean this up”

Tyler Reddick left San Diego with a reduced points lead. After Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado, the 23XI Racing driver said the result was on him after an incident with Corey Heim and a flat tire. The setback cost his team 43 points and cut his advantage over Denny Hamlin to just eight points heading into Sonoma.

Reddick started from the rear after unapproved adjustments were needed following a spin in qualifying. He climbed back into contention for the win but with five laps left on the 3.4-mile street course in Coronado, he tried to defend the lead from Heim in Turn 5 and made contact with his teammate. Heim stayed in control and kept racing. Reddick then backed off and later lost more ground after suffering a flat left-front tire.

After the race, the No. 45 driver took blame for the mistakes and missed opportunity.

“I gave it away, so just tough. It was a really bad day for us, start to finish. So yeah, we just, we’ve got to clean this up. We’re better than this and we’re gonna figure it out,” Tyler Reddick said.

Reddick also commented on Heim’s performance.

“Drove like a veteran today. Did a really good job behind the wheel. Yeah, just ran mistake-free at the end there. Did what he needed to do and I opened the door up for him a number of times and he was finally able to get by,” he said.

Heim’s win gave the 23-year-old his first Cup Series victory in his 13th start. The part-time 23XI Racing driver held off Bubba Wallace to complete a 1-2 finish for the team.

Reddick finished 25th, and his points lead dropped to eight.

Denny Hamlin reacts to Tyler Reddick’s decision to give way to Corey Heim at Coronado

Denny Hamlin complimented Tyler Reddick’s sportsmanship at the San Diego street course. The 23XI Racing co-owner said the incident showed Reddick’s character.

“Well, I think it speaks a lot to Tyler’s character, right? Apparently, he felt like Corey raced him very clean, got around him clean. When he tried to pass him back clean, he didn’t, so he wanted to hit the reset button and try it again. I’m very proud of that ’cause it’s very easy when you’re racing for the win to just say, I’ll say ‘I’m sorry later,'” Hamlin said.

The NASCAR Cup Series will race at Sonoma Raceway this Sunday. The race is set to start at 2:30 pm on June 28.