Denny Hamlin Shockingly Reveals Bizarre Threat Richard Childress Racing Made to Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress wasn’t happy at Martinsville on Saturday after the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. He made this clear in his post-race comments about Sheldon Creed, calling him the stupidest driver ever driven for the organization.
This week, on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin reviewed the incident. When asked about the team owner’s willingness to park the No. 2 driver at Phoenix after what happened at The Paperclip, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said that sort of action was not inconceivable and then shockingly revealed a situation last season with Tyler Reddick and the team bizarrely threatening him.
Richard Childress calls Sheldon Creed ‘stupid’
No one will accuse Richard Childress of not being competitive. He wouldn’t have achieved so much NASCAR success if he didn’t have a burning desire to compete and, more importantly, win. But sometimes, in the heat of racing action, emotions run as hot as an Xfinity Series car. That’s what happened on Saturday night at Martinsville.
It came down to the last lap with both RCR drivers, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill, battling hard against each other in the first two positions, knowing that only the winner would advance to the Championship 4 in Phoenix. Incredibly, neither won. Instead, they managed to take each other out, allowing Justin Allgaier to sneak underneath and beat the No. 2 in a drag race to the checkered flag.
Several minutes after the race, Richard Childress spoke with NBC Sports and didn’t sugarcoat what he thought about the situation and who was to blame.
“I’ve had drivers drive for me before, but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed,” Childress told NBC Sports. “You don’t do that as a team player. What else do you want me to tell you?”
Denny Hamlin reveals how Richard Childress Racing threatened Tyler Reddick
The RCR teammate drama was understandably a hot topic of conversation this week in NASCAR circles. Denny Hamlin, who views the sport from both a driver’s and owner’s perspective, discussed the tension-filled situation on his weekly podcast.
During that discussion, he was asked if he thought there was any chance Childress would park Creed and not allow him to race at Phoenix.
“Oh, I think they would,” Hamlin said before pausing. “They were threatening to put Tyler in a really bad car. Basically, take him out of the 8 this year and put him in, like, a terrible third car. It’s tough.”
Story makes sense
While it would be easy to dismiss Hamlin’s remarks because such a plan to effectively tank a ride sounds ridiculous, we know several things are true. First, it was well-documented that Childress planned on pursuing a third charter, and Reddick would drive that car in 2023.
Second, if anyone would know the details of such a situation and what was said, it would be Hamlin. The 23XI Racing co-owner brokered the deal for Reddick to join his team in 2024. He was having conversations with his future driver throughout the process and being kept in the loop about what was happening on the other side at RCR, including if there might be a possibility of the driver joining a year earlier than the original plan.
In the end, it’s not so far-fetched to believe that Childress, who was notably salty in multiple interviews on Reddick’s pending departure, would effectively threaten his driver with sabotage. The key word is “threaten.” It didn’t happen because Reddick got moved out a year early.
But even if the driver would have stayed, it’s hard to imagine the team owner would have followed through on such a threat. That goes against his very nature. He’s too competitive.
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