Batesville Motor Speedway
Batesville flip spells more heartbreak for Reddick
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writerLOCUST GROVE, Ark. (Aug. 17) — Tyler Reddick had an impressive run going in Friday night’s second Comp Cams Topless 100 heat race at Batesville Motor Speedway. But just like most of the young driver’s would-be impressive runs this year, everything turned south in an instant. | Complete Topless 100 coverage
Reddick of Corning, Calif., was on cruise control in the 12-lap prelim, opening up a comfortable lead over former Topless 100 winner Jared Landers as he raced toward a top-four starting spot in Saturday night’s $40,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series main event.
But just a couple laps from the finish, a shredded right-rear tire caused Reddick’s Bloomquist Race Car to spin and dig into the track surface in the middle of turns three and four, sending Reddick for a wild barrel-rolling ride that left his car perched on top of the tour-four guard rail.
Reddick climbed from the wreck uninjured, but his race car suffered heavy damage that left Reddick and his team wondering if the chassis was beyond repair. But for as much damage as his car suffered, it may have been young driver’s spirits that were most hurt in the wreck.
“It’s probably a disappointed as I’ve ever been,” said Reddick, who’s had his fair share of heartbreaking disappointments this season. “It’s just been one of those years where things just keep happening at the worst time.”
The accident is another example in a long line of bad-luck circumstances that have plagued Reddick’s 2012 season. A blow engine after charging to the front in Lucas Oil Speedway’s Show-Me 100 feature; a tangle with a lapped car while racing for the lead late in Hartford Speedway’s Lucas Oil event; and a broken axle in the return to Lucas Oil Speedway for the Diamond Nationals are just a few of the culprits that have robbed Reddick of potential strong finishes, if not victories.
Friday night’s disappointment may be the worse heartbreak yet, however, as Reddick and his family-owned race team are left wondering what to do next.
“We’re short a car now, and it’s been one of those years where it’s rough on everybody. We’ve been having failures and failures and failures, and it’s starting to get to us,” said Reddick, who noted that his team was considering calling it a weekend instead of unloading the backup car. “It’s just been one of those years. It’s tough to keep following (the Lucas Oil Series) when things keep happening.”
Reddick indicated that a high-speed race surface that produced near track-record speeds was likely what caused his right-rear tire to give out.
“It looks like the sidewall on our right-rear tire just basically fell apart on us,” Reddick said. “The track’s been really fast all weekend long with track-record speeds, and I just think it’s too fast. I’m surprised more people haven’t had the same issue.”
Perhaps, the most disappointing part of it all was Reddick had high hopes of turning his frustrating season around with a strong run this weekend. Batesville has always been one of his better racetracks.
“It’s just disappointing. I wish Batesville would have been like it has been in the past,” said Reddick, who finished fifth in last year’s Topless 100 feature. “We’ve had a really fast race car here in the past. It was here that our first year started turning around, and last year we ran pretty good here, too.”
But as dejected as he was Friday night, Reddick tried to look on the bright side.
“It could have been worse,” Reddick said. “We could have flipped down here in one and two and got into the fence. But all things happen for a reason. Hopefully, we’ll recover and get back on the road.”
