The UNOH 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway could not have started better for Tyler Reddick, (@TylerReddick) but he and the team were hoping for better than a 14th-place finish.
Reddick won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the 200-lap race at Bristol, ripping off a lap of 14.884 seconds, 128.917 mph. He claimed his third pole position in 53 NCWTS races and the first for Brad Keselowski Racing in 2016. He captured his first Bristol pole in what was his second start at the 0.533-mile Tennessee short track. He is 10th in the series championship standings, 32 points behind the final cutoff position for the Chase.
The initial start of the race was delayed by an early evening rain shower. When the race started, Reddick chose the outside lane on the initial start. He led the first lap of the race then fell in line third by lap three. He battled a loose handling condition at the start of the race and welcomed the opportunity to pit for four tires and adjustments during the competition caution (the second yellow of the race) on lap 42.
Several of his competitors chose not to pit, shuffling up the running order. Reddick restarted 16th when the race went green on lap 47. Over the next 29 laps, he picked his way through two more cautions to climb up to ninth-place by lap 76, where he would hold steady as the event roared past halfway. By lap 115, Reddick began to make his move closer to the front of the pack when he picked off the eighth position. Ten laps later, he was running seventh and on lap 129, he climbed back inside the top five.
The fifth caution of the race slowed the pace on lap 135 and one lap later, crew chief Doug Randolph called Reddick to pit lane for four tires and a chassis adjustment. He restarted ninth when the race went green on lap 142. Reddick maintained the position until lap 169 when he moved up to eighth and begin to move forward. He was seventh by lap 180 and grabbed sixth-place on lap 182.
The ninth caution of the race was displayed on lap 188 and setup the final restart on lap 195, just five laps from the finish. Reddick restarted in the outside groove and try as he might, couldn’t squeeze into line in the preferred bottom groove as the final laps trickled away. He was credited with a 14th-place finish.
BKR PR
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