The seats in each NASCAR race car are specifically molded to the driver's shape and specifications, which is supposed to make for a safe and comfortable cocoon. Unfortunately for Tyler Reddick, he's been anything but comfortable the past two races as he and his team look to address an issue that is causing his legs to go numb mid-race.
Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Tyler Reddick offered an update on the ongoing issue with his legs falling asleep, sharing that the problem actually got worse last week at Las Vegas after first becoming a problem at Fontana. In the process of leading 90 laps at Auto Club Speedway, Reddick had first complained of his left leg going numb.
But despite changes to his seat prior to Las Vegas, Reddick shared that both his legs went numb mid-race.
"I didn't know where the gas pedal was that well, and I could not feel the brake at all. So I actually made it worse, which is not good," Reddick said. "I left the race absolutely just dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that it got worse, we made it worse."
In explaining why he would be having issues with leg numbness, Reddick explained that the cockpit of the Next Gen car is deeper and features elements like floor-mounted pedals, making it easier for a driver's feet too high or too low and cut off the circulation of blood flow.
Addressing the issue with Reddick's leg numbness and getting it fixed is now "priority number one" for him and his race team, particularly with a brake-heavy track like Phoenix Raceway up next on the Cup schedule. Speaking to SiriusXM later, crew chief Randall Burnett shared that BSCI -- a company that specializes in seat pours for NASCAR drivers -- was coming to the race shop to help fit Reddick in his Phoenix car.
"It's been a little bit of an ongoing battle, and Tyler's fought a little bit of this previous to this new car," Burnett said. "But it's certainly been magnified here in the past couple of weeks."
For what it's worth, Reddick's legs going numb has not had an adverse effect on his performance. Reddick led the most laps at Fontana before a blown tire took him out of contention, and he recovered from an early-race spin to finish seventh at Las Vegas.
