NASCAR: Will Tyler Reddick be promoted to Cup for the 2020 season?

Will Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Tyler Reddick be promoted to the Cup Series for the 2020 season?

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the potential NASCAR Cup Series futures for Xfinity Series superstars Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing and Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing.

But there has not been nearly as much talk of the driver who currently leads the Xfinity Series championship standings as the reigning series champion.

That driver is Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick.

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After winning last year’s Xfinity Series championship as a rookie driving the #9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, Reddick joined Richard Childress Racing as the driver of the #2 Chevrolet.

He had signed a contract to do so before winning last year’s title, prompting questions from fans as to whether or not his move would be worth it.

He has answered those questions with a resounding yes, as he sits 46 points ahead of Bell (857 to 811) and 97 points ahead of Custer (857 to 760) in the championship standings with 19 of the season’s 33 races having been contested. He has won only three races while Bell and Custer have each won five, but he has recorded a series-high 14 top five finishes. Bell has recorded 12 while Custer has recorded 11.

Richard Childress Racing team owner Richard Childress did not officially rule out Reddick competing in the Xfinity Series for the team next season when he shared his thoughts on the future for the 23-year-old Corning, California native, but based on the sentiment of his statement, it appears as though Reddick is set to compete in the Cup Series one way or another.

Here is what Childress had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“He’s going to be a superstar. We hope to be able to keep him, but you know how this sport is. It boils down to dollars. We want to keep him here if there’s any way. If not, I want to see him in a good situation.“That’s our goal right now is to try to put him in a Cup car. That’s what he wants to do. That’s the reason he came to RCR because he knew we had Cup cars and Cup experience. He’ll win some Cup races if you put him in a Cup car. That’s where he wants to be, and I think he deserves it. He’s ready for Cup right now.”"

Childress is effectively saying that Reddick could go elsewhere if he is not promoted to the Cup Series by the team, so it is naturally their goal to retain the superstar. But for Reddick to be promoted to the Cup Series at Richard Childress Racing, they would need to expand to become a three-car operation.

They have been as large as a four-car operation before, and they were most recently a three-car operation in the 2017 season before they shuttered the #27 team.

Austin Dillon and rookie Daniel Hemric are both set to return to the team for the 2020 season as the drivers of the #3 Chevrolet and #8 Chevrolet, respectively, so the addition of a third car would come down to sponsorship money. Reddick’s talent is certainly not in question.

Reddick has made two starts, the first two starts of his Cup Series career, behind the wheel of the #31 Chevrolet for the team this season, and he has fared rather well. While he was taken out of the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in a late crash, he ran well in the May race at Kansas Speedway en route to a ninth place finish.

In a combined 42 starts through the first 21 races of the 2019 season, Dillon and Hemric have only combined to record three top nine finishes, yet Reddick finished in ninth place in what was his non-restrictor plate race debut.

Dillon currents sits in 22nd in the championship standings while Hemric sits in 25th, although Hemric has come on stronger as of late, securing a seventh place finish in this past Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway.

There is no doubt that Reddick has what it takes to compete in the Cup Series. The question is whether or not Richard Childress Racing can make it happen on a full-time basis next year, because if they can’t, another team very well might and certainly should.

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Will Tyler Reddick compete in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2020 season? If so, will he drive for Richard Childress Racing, or will he sign elsewhere if they are unable to expand to become a three-car operation?

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