Tyler Reddick rips fellow NASCAR drivers after Watkins Glen: ‘There is no more driver code’
Tyler Reddick is the latest driver to speak out against the lack of respect amongst those in the field coming out of Sunday’s Round of 16 race at Watkins Glen.
During a Tuesday appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Reddick declared that “driver code” no longer exists in NASCAR and said that drivers nowadays use their cars “as a battering ram” with no accountability.
Tyler Reddick on careless driving: ‘It’s hard to watch’
“There is no more driver code. It’s gone,” Reddick said. “I got home, and I was on the couch and saw Martin Truex Jr.’s postrace comments. And it’s so relatable. I completely get where he is at. I get it. You go back and watch people drive into the corner on the restarts use the car ahead as a brake pedal. It just sucks. Call me a hypocrite if you want, I’ve made my mistakes, screwed up and run people over. I just don’t like driving into the corner and using someone in front as a brake. Running someone a little wide is one thing but running someone off the track — I don’t like racing that way. I’ve been fortunate in years’ past at these road courses to be ahead of a lot of that crap.
Yesterday was one of the few days where we just had an all-around bad day and were right there in the middle of it. Seeing it just sucks. It is what it is. I hope that it changes. But with the old car you could bump a little bit, but you would knock your radiator out. This car, it just seems like you can use your front bumper as a battering ram. You can just knock people out of the way if you want to. I think in certain situations that’s great when you’re racing mono a mono and you have to work really hard to get to someone’s bumper and give them a shot, that’s one thing. But I don’t like seeing us go into the corner like that and just use each other up. It’s hard to watch.”
Martin Truex Jr. calls out fellow NASCAR drivers for careless racing at Watkins Glen
Several drivers took issue with the amount of reckless driving which took place at Watkins Glen, none more agitated, however, than Martin Truex Jr. Truex is a 20-year vet and has seen the shift within the sport over the years. It’s frustrating for Truex, who finished P20, his seventh consecutive finish of 20th or worse.
Martin Truex Jr. calls out fellow NASCAR drivers for careless racing at Watkins Glen
Several drivers took issue with the amount of reckless driving which took place at Watkins Glen, none more agitated, however, than Martin Truex Jr. Truex is a 20-year vet and has seen the shift within the sport over the years. It’s frustrating for Truex, who finished P20, his seventh consecutive finish of 20th or worse.
In this circumstance, he felt he got used up in the closing laps and appeared to take a shot at Kyle Larson.
“It’s just crazy that all these races always come down to this,” Truex said. “I don’t really understand how guys can call their self the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races. It’s very frustrating but it is what it is these days, so I’m out of here.”