Kyle Petty: I’m not sure what Tyler Reddick was thinking with last-lap move on Chris Buescher at Darlington

Kyle Petty tried to get inside the mind of Tyler Reddick following his daring move that didn’t work out during last weekend’s race at Darlington, but he simply couldn’t understand what happened.

The former NASCAR wheelman turned analyst watched as Reddick ruined the afternoon for both himself and Chris Buescher, and while Petty usually sides with some aggressiveness from a driver, he didn’t like what he saw from the No. 45 in the closing laps last weekend.

“With about ten to go, Tyler Reddick sends it off into turn three, with no hope. No hope. I don’t know what he was thinking,” Petty started. “He said, ‘I tried to pull back,’ but he was already in. I’m not sure about that. He pins Buescher on the outside wall.

“Obviously, he cuts a tire. Obviously the race goes to heck and a hand basket, for both of those guys. That”s racing. We can chalk that up.”

Buescher was just as confused as Petty. The No. 17 wanted his first win of the season, and he let Reddick know about his frustrations following the race. However, Petty decided to heap some credit on the RFK Racing wheelman, believing he restrained himself well during the conflict on pit road.

“He never gets riled. He came at Tyler Reddick, but I’ve got to give him credit, he was restrained,” Petty said, regarding Buescher. “He stepped back. All of the emotion that he had. Frustration, confusion, hurt. It came out. He gave us a peek behind the curtain, of what drivers really think. He was hurt, because he thought, ‘Hey man, I raced you clean. We never race like that, what the heck just happened?’ There was the frustration of losing that race, and the confusion of, ‘Why did you race me like that Tyler? I don’t race you like that.’ Then, we go to the hurt part. The hurt part was, ‘I don’t have a sticker on my car. You’ve got one on your car, I don’t have one.’ That shows the fans how important these wins are, how critical these wins are, for these teams, and these drivers, to move into the playoffs. 

“That was a peek behind the curtain, for me, of what drivers really think. So many times we see drivers that go over the line, that scream, that holler, that yell. You never know where they’re at. Chris Buescher showed you that peek, into the emotions of a driver, and what it really feels like to have a race taken away from you, when it’s right in your grasp.”

Brad Keselowski was the major benefactor from the ordeal, but Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick will take the lessons learned from Darlington moving forward. It’ll be fascinating to see how they race each other over the remainder of the season.