Kevin Harvick explains 'unique' wreck that caused Tyler Reddick flip at Las Vegas

Tyler Reddick went for an unpleasant ride on Lap 90 of this past Sunday’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas.

Coming off Turn 4, Reddick tried to execute a pass up top on Chase Elliott, sandwiched in the middle with Martin Truex Jr. on the bottom. Reddick ran out of room, making contact with Elliott. The contact sent Reddick spinning through the frontstretch grass. His No. 45 Toyota at one point flipped completely over but landed on all fours.

Kevin Harvick, speaking on Tuesday’s “Happy Hour” podcast, explained the uniqueness of the wreck coming off of Turn 4.

“I think the unique scenario is the exit at Turn 4 at Kansas and Las Vegas are very similar and there’s a couple of things that could have happened here,” Harvick said. “I think that the 19 car [Truex] probably got tight, and when these cars get tight and get close to each other — I bet the 19 was completely out of the gas, you saw the flames come out of the pipe — but the car will continue to go up the racetrack into the 9 [Elliott].

“The 9 knew he was in trouble. You saw him lift because he knew the 45 [Reddick] was out there and the 45 had no idea that the 19 was getting tight and coming up the racetrack into the 9. It’s like those cars will get glued together when they take off tight like that, and that’s probably what happened to the 19 car and the 9 just couldn’t get out of the middle and the 45 had no idea of the scenario with a big run of the steam on the outside.”

Tyler Reddick facing uphill battle in Cup Series playoffs

Harvick hated how Reddick’s car turned over, citing the “depth” of the grass at Las Vegas.

“I hate that the car turned over,” Harvick said. “I still think that’s a product of the depth of the grass, the way that the grass is lipped up onto that quarter mile. We saw that at Daytona, [and] I wish they would standardize some sort of quality of the infield and the height of the grass and those lips.

“Especially when you have those lips that lead into asphalt like that, because that’s really what got that car up into the air and off the ground is when the car came out of the grass up onto the asphalt and that turned the car over. So, glad Tyler Reddick is OK.”

Reddick, the Stage 1 winner, finished 35th and Elliott 33rd, 27 laps down. Both have work to do heading into Homestead this Sunday, as Reddick is 30 points below the cutline while Elliott is 53 points back.