Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Tyler Reddick Interview After Winning the Daytona 500 | VICTORY LAP

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Daytona 500 champion Tyler Reddick joins Kevin Harvick for this week’s Victory Lap to break down his thrilling victory in the 2026 Daytona 500, walking through the chaotic final laps and how he positioned himself to capitalize when it mattered most. Reddick explains what it meant to finally win at Daytona, the emotion of celebrating in Victory Lane alongside team owner Michael Jordan, and why the moment carried extra weight after a winless season and personal challenges his family has faced. He reflects on the belief inside his team, the support system that kept him grounded, and how this breakthrough victory changes expectations heading into the rest of the NASCAR season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daytona 500 is a race, but when you win this race, you become a champion. It's just that whole last lap, man. It was really crazy. Some drivers go their whole career without getting the kind of opportunity I had at the end of the race. The craziest part for me as a driver in the seat is it just felt calm. Welcome to Kevin Harvick's happy hour, presented by NASCAR on Fox. And today we have the 2026 Daytona 500 champion. Tyler Reddick, that has to sound pretty good, man.

it's uh it's it's it's it's sinking in it really is it's uh yeah i mean gosh i'm uh i'm unfortunate that number eight was was the one that that i was able to get the job done you know it's it's crazy man um you know you go you sometimes some drivers go their whole career with without getting the kind opportunity i had at the end of the race uh yesterday and uh just to be in that spot after so many years of it really falling apart early in the race or pretty much being out of it with about 15 to go to come up one spot short last year but survived to the end and and have a shot at it was a huge step in the right direction and then last last night yesterday to be able to do the execution part that we needed to to be in the mix and obviously I mean just just find our way

through the madness and once that's just that whole last lap man it was it was really crazy watching it back just the amount of things that were taking place but the craziest part for me as a driver in the seat is it just felt calm everything felt like it was slow and you know I didn't really think about what I was going to do I just did it honestly when you when you look back I mean you want it Talladega you've won at Daytona now and for for me when I was driving I was like I I never felt really good as a restrictor plate racer. You've got a couple wins on the restrictor plates now. And some of it is just keeping your head in the game and being patient and just knowing that you're going to lose some, you're going to win some, you're going to crash some.

How hard has it been to just wrap your arms around? Because yesterday, to me, the race was really, those races are really hard now because of all the strategy that goes into it. And then it's like, all right, let's go. Let's go race now. How hard is it from a driver's standpoint to be comfortable when they say, let's go, and then you get into that madness at the end of the race after you've kind of just been chilling, you know, for 20 or 30 laps? Yeah, it's definitely interesting. And every year, I just feel like it continues to evolve and just get more complex, you know. There was a period in time when, you know, everyone was going to save fuel that you could find a way to the front.

And it seems like the field's getting smarter and adapting to that. So where you want to be in the field, you know, each of the three fuel runs, if you will, yesterday in the race all played out a little bit differently. So you couldn't really pick up on a trend or a pattern. You just, you constantly had to be changing and ready to adapt to a new process on how you're going to get to the front through the cycle. And yeah, I mean, it's tricky. I mean, what I love about Daytona that we've gotten experience with Atlanta the last couple of years

is the tires do wear. You know, it's not like they court or anything, obviously, but, you know, when it is finally time to go and we only take fuel under the Green Flag stop, when we're going, the cars aren't driving good. You know, some guys are losing the rear, you know, the rear handling. I basically was fighting front grip most of the day.

And it's challenging. You know, you've got to try and save your tires if you can a little bit. So you have something to go at the end. and it's just, you know, Daytona for a couple years here, it was just all the grip you could ever need the entire run. And the last couple of times we've been here,

it's been tricky after the stop when you've got to go all out and handling's in play. So you went to race, you got Michael Jordan and Victory Lane, you've got Denny in Victory Lane, you've got sponsors, people, madness. At what point did you look around and look at the big Harley J. Earl trophy

and put your hands in the ground and just start to take all that in. Because for me, I don't feel like I did a good job of really taking all that in, but when you go back and look at it a couple of years later and you start looking around at all the names that are the greats of this sport, have you had that moment of aha yet where you realize what you just did? I think it settled in pretty late last night. It really finally sunk in.

I was soaking it up as, you know, I got to, Victory Lane and you know I got to spend some time on the front stretch with with some of the team some of my pick crew but getting everyone there in victory lane that really helped the moment really sink in you know I have the Harley Geraldwin trophy in front of me the perpetual trophy behind me the car's in Victory Lane my parents my family my kids my wife the team owners are there yeah in the moment in the car cross start finish line I lost my mind momentarily that was that was fun and awesome right but Basically from the moment I celebrate on the front stretch till halfway through Victory Lane,

it just didn't seem real. It really didn't. And, you know, getting to do all these extra things that we've done so far this morning just really help it fully sink in. You know, getting the jacket, getting the Rolex watch, putting your hands and feet in the concrete, your signature. All those things just really help it sink in that, you know, again, Daytona 500 is a race, but when you win this race, you become a champion. And it's truly a special moment, special feeling to have. Coolest moment having Bo on top of the car after the race as you got to celebrate so far? I mean, I was looking for the little ones when I was on the front stretch, but I think my wife made the right choice waiting to get us all in victory lane. That,

sharing that moment with Bo was awesome, you know, rookie, everything he'd gone through. He missed some races last year and I thought I was going to miss races too to have him you know back healthy and and here at the track you know about a week ago when we got down here to Daytona he finally started like crawling fast and moving around through the bus so it's been really cool to see you know him going through the natural steps he will as as he grows up so yeah sharing it with my family was awesome but typical MJ fashion he shows up at the right time right as we're supposed to pick up the Harley Gerald trophy. He gets to, he gets to Victory Lane. He's losing his mind. And for me, I just thought it was the perfect time and the perfect place. I asked Michael, hey, we're about

to pick this trophy up. Let's do it together. And so I think for me, you know, his timing, Michael's just got some incredible timing. That's for sure. Yeah. Well, it's, it's pretty big deal. I mean, NBA All-Star game was yesterday and he's standing in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500. So, I mean, it's one of those scenarios, like you say, he's got that impeccable timing to be at the right place at the right time. I want to talk about your support system because it's well documented everything that you went through with your family. You got 2311 in the middle of a lawsuit last year, didn't go to Victory Lane. You have the expectations that we have for yourself, you know, to be a winner and doing exactly what you're doing right now. how is how is it different going into this year knowing that personally you've got a lot of things

settled your team is in a whole different spot your organization is in a whole different spot from last year explain to us the relief of just starting this season with everything lined out and just what it feels the difference it feels this year compared to last year and through the through the year last year yeah um you know it was it was um it was a harsh reality for us, you know, when the year ended, that we hadn't won and had lived up to, you know, our own expectations or the expectations that Michael and Denny or the, you know, the folks at Airspeed have for this 45 car.

And to be able to, you know, we had a lot of great conversations in the off-season, you know, some were tough conversations, but they needed to happen. And to be able to go through all that, and I feel like we came out of the off-season, to be able to just ride away, have a gratifying moment, like winning the biggest race that we'll have all year, it's quite a way for it to turn around for us.

But I definitely know that none of us will get too comfortable. We know we still have some work to do. We want to see this at other racetracks that we have on the season. But for us to kind of multiple times throughout the race, have things not really go right. You can feel the tension there. And it's like, all right, we're getting ready to spiral roll in a direction we don't want to.

And we just did a good job of, okay, we weren't happy with how stage one went. We're going to put it, it's done. We're just going to put it over there. We'll talk about it on Monday or Tuesday or whenever I have time now, you know, and just move on, reset. And, you know, I feel like in stage two, I made some decisions that just weren't great. And everyone was kind of, you know, we were kind of at ends on where we were at the moment.

And we just did a good job of putting it behind us, reset and in stage three. with a new plan and kind of going forward with that. So it was the kind of day that, you know, in 2025 would get away from us. And we didn't let it, we didn't let it to start off 2026. And that's great feeling. So who's, is this, like my wife was always my biggest critic. She was always like, hey, you're being a, you're being an asshole. Whatever the, whatever the situation was, that was a terrible interview.

Is it your wife? Is it, is it Billy? Is it Denny? Is it just you looking at yourself? Because I feel like in our sport, you always have to have a great support system and you have to almost swallow your pride sometimes to make yourself a better person,

which makes you a better driver. Who is that in your circle of trust there? I feel like a number of people for sure. There's been many of times that I've gotten back to bus and my wife, you know, it's funny. There's been some races or something happened. And I thought I've played out pretty, good and I get to the bus and she was like, what was that? Just like, you know, she was wanting

me to drive through somebody or take it another step further. And it's always refreshing to get that from her. But I feel like everyone collectively does a really good job of that. You know, Denny has done a good job in my great moments and in my bad moments of holding me accountable in both directions. Same thing with my crew chief. And it's something that, you know, we again, talk about in the offseason, you know, don't let little things turn into big things. Let's have the hard conversation, let's get over with, let's address it so we can all move forward as a team together. So I feel like a number of people in the organization, a number of people in my life have kind of all shared those hats and the different moments, the different areas of whether

it's me personal or me as a driver. I think everyone does a really good job of holding each other accountable. It was something we worked, you know, a lot on in the off season, just again, having those conversations and just making sure that we address things before they get out of hand. Yeah, it's one race into the season, but it's a really great start so far. Well, it changes your whole season because a lot of times you can win the Daytona 500 and make your whole year. It's not what you want and it's not what I wanted or all the guys that are racing at the top of the sport. You want to win the Daytona 500 and then go win the rest of them. So as you look forward and you go from Daytona 500 winner and you get through all the work and you show up in Atlanta,

what are the racetracks that you felt like as as the 45 team that you guys needed to work on to improve to get better that were kind of the focus of 2026? Yeah, I mean, for us, it's just, you know, for years we've been fighting break issues at the short tracks and some of those, you know, even in a place like Nashville and stuff, places where, you know, you're using kind of light to medium break pressure, you know, and for us, it's super important for us this year to finally. put that to bed and address it and it be in the past. You know, for three years, it's something that we fought. And, you know, we've, we've been addressing a lot of, pushing a lot of resources and direction of improving that. And I'm looking forward to seeing what that's going to be like when we go to some of these short tracks. Because they have been my weakest link, if you will.

And I feel like, you know, when we aren't having those issues, short tracks are one of our stronger, stronger track types as well. I feel like consistently we go to Richmond and we have the speed and chances to win there. And I never thought that would ever be a reality for me as a driver going there for the first time. So if we can put that stuff behind us and if we fixed it, I think it'll fill that void that we've been missing on the consistency side of the short tracks. And then obviously for me personally, you know, it drives me nuts going to a road course and getting just dusted by Shane. So we've been working really hard to work around our row course program, look at some things.

You know, we've had decent speed firing off, and that's just not good enough. We've been working hard, trying things, seeing what things are like in SIM. So kind of across the board, I think we're trying to take a deeper dive into what I want to feel out of the race car and trying to see if that can extract some more short run speed, but most importantly, long run speed a number of these tracks. Yeah, when you, you mentioned the road courses in Shane, and I've talked to, I've done a couple of these interviews over the past few weeks, and that's been something that all the drivers have brought up when I ask them about their season. Is there something in particular?

Because it's been a wide variety of opinions and some, it's just like, yeah, it starts when I get to the corner, starts when I hit the brakes, let off the brakes, hit the throttle, and get off the corner. So that SVG is better at. And it's just so intriguing to me how one person can change what we all thought everybody was pretty good at and take it to a different level. Is there something that you recognize that you think you need to do better or is it just everything that he does better? You know, I give him a lot of credit. And I don't want it to sound like I'm taking any away from him when I say this.

It just something about the direction of road course racing over the last, you know, year and a half has went in his wheelhouse. And so that's kind of telling for me. Obviously, he was getting his, you know, getting his feet wet, understanding what the next-shend car is like versus what he was used to. When he came into this, you know, we had harder tires. We had more downforce. And I felt like, you know, guys like me were right there with them, if not better, at some of these racetracks. And the more that the downforce has come off the car, the more that the tires softened up, We've added more horsepower now too.

I mean, it just seems like something about that really fits how he drives a race car. So trying to understand, okay, what do I need to do or have in my car, you know, to manage my stuff well? You know, he does find a way to run fast laps and qualifying, and I've been able to somewhat match that. But in the long run, I mean, he just, I wouldn't even say it's like you find this another gear. He just manages his stuff great. So for us, it's taking a deeper dive at that, maybe rethinking what we need out of our cars to have some short run speed, but to prioritize the long run. You know, it's telling for me, I don't want it to sound like I'm giving myself too much credit, but when I pretty much copy and pace what he does in the car and, you know, he's still driving away. It tells me that we've got some work to do in other areas.

So our hopes is that we've worked hard enough to be able to go channel. challenge them at these road courses this year. Last question is as you go into this year, you had a good speed weeks. Obviously, it's, it's what everybody was shooting for. We got a, we got a different format with the chase this year and the point style. D&Fs are going to matter. We saw all but one car during speed weeks. Josh Barry was the only car that wasn't involved in an accident during speed weeks at some point. And now you're through that. You won the race and now you can go to Atlanta where we all know that we can have carnage and things happen. How much has that changed your thought process? Do you think about it differently? Obviously, winning makes up for

a lot of things. How has that changed the conversations and thoughts for you personally? I think it's just, you know, I feel like I was already kind of, I've been that way or been going in that direction. I know I may seem like the super aggressive driver that takes a lot of risks, but I remember back to my truck days when it was a season-long format. You know, it was a strength of mine having the larger sample size. You know, when I ran Xfinity that second year with RCR, you know, we run the regular season championship then too. So I know it may seem like the guy that can take the risk, pop out there and win races

and maybe be a little inconsistent. But, you know, in 2024 and at the tail end of 25, when everything with rookie was going on, one of our strengths were consistency. And so I feel like this format is great for me and how I like to approach the season. And I'm excited what that means going in Atlanta. You know, we did have one DNF last year at the break yard. But, you know, again, we ran more laps in a car in 2025. That will be important this year to continue that.

We did a good job of that in 2024 as well. And then again, you know, last year we scored the most amount of points on the speedways against the field. And I think, you know, we're kind of right on track with where we left off in 2025 in that sense. Well, I'm happy for you, man. I'm happy for you. I'm happy for 2311.

I'm happy for the sport that we don't have to deal with all the chaos that you guys were having to deal with on a week-to-week basis this year. It seemed like the enthusiasm and excitement and everything that we got to witness this week at the Daytona 500 was back to normal. And I'm sure that for you personally, professionally, it has to feel pretty good. But take it all in, man. You just won the biggest race of the year. Enjoy it.

You're going to be a great Daytona 500 champion. And good luck with everything that you have going on this year. Yeah, thank you. It's nice. I haven't been in New York in a hot minute. Me and the family week, me and Alexa, get to go up there, do some media up there. That'll be a lot of fun. Yeah, it's exciting.

It's an awesome privilege to be able to be up around and do the media and get to see the big the big city too. Well, congratulations. Have fun. And we'll see you next week in Atlanta. Sounds good. Thanks, Kevin.