DU QUOIN (WSIL)– Tyler Reddick is one of the up and comers on the NASCAR scene. Reddick won the Xfinity series season championship last year and has made a couple of starts on the Cup circuit this year.
It’s been a wild year for Reddick, coming off a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and being named the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year.
"Refocused ourselves, and as a group, we, the last two or three weeks before the playoffs started, and the entire playoffs we just came together in a way that we hadn’t been able to  come together all year long, and we were able to do something pretty special," said Reddick.
Reddick stopped ini Du Quoin Tuesday to sign some autographs and see some old friends. Although he was born in California, Reddick lived in Du Quoin for several years while growing up, before settling in North Carolina to be closer to his racing team, though he still refers to Du Quoin as his home.
"I still have friends here, some of them have went to college, some of them, I think are coming back from college now, some of the friends that are here now have jobs that take them all over, but I still have a number of friends that live here in Du Quoin, so any time I pass through, it’s really cool to stop in and see some of them," said Reddick.
Not only did he get a chance to see some friends, Du Quoin mayor Guy Alongi proclaimed it Tyler Reddick Day before the 23-year old driver signed autographs for area race fans. Later, he offered words of encouragement to student-athletes at the Du Quoin Elks Lodge All-Sports banquet.
"Anything is possible if you put your utmost effort to it. Don’t let failure distract you or let you down. Look at it as a way to continue to improve, and continue to get better," said Reddick.
