“We had a great No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet when we could run in clean air and record some good lap times. Like a lot of our competitors today, we struggled in dirty air. Any time we were battling someone side by side or from behind them, our car would just build way too tight and make it tough to gain or hold track position. We had an up-and-down day, falling back early and then playing some strategy to stay out to start Stage 3 from the fifth spot. Once the race restarted for Stage 3, we were able to hold on to that position for a while before having to make our final green flag stop of the day. Unfortunately, a yellow came out when our pit stops were cycling through, trapping us a lap down and forcing us to take the wave-around and get shuffled back in traffic again. When that final yellow flag came out and set us up for a green-white-checkered finish, my crew chief Randall Burnett made the call to come in for four fresh tires and put us 16th for the restart. I was able to capitalize on the final restart and race up to eighth place, which is a great finish for our day. We had to grind it out today, but it turned out in our favor.”
-Tyler Reddick
