At Darlington, Tyler Reddick’s fourth win of the season didn’t come easy. The 23XI Racing driver suffered many issues in the race, which could’ve easily led to a finish far from ideal. But Reddick not only dealt with those issues, he persisted, remained competitive, and ended up as a winner. However, his result, despite the difficulties throughout the day, ended up inciting an overstatement by an esteemed name in the sport.

Reddick fought through nature and machine to his Darlington win

During the Cup race on Sunday, Tyler Reddick faced problems right from the first lap. He told his team early on in the race that he had an alternator problem. But despite the battery change at the end of the first stage, the issues remained.

Because of this, the #45 driver was forced to turn off the cooling systems in his racecar as well as his race suit. This led to significant discomfort for the 23XI driver, so much so that during one pit stop, he had to pump out water from his suit. Nevertheless, Reddick persisted, and with 28 laps to go, he took the lead from Brad Keselowski and won his fourth race of the season.

The #45 driver later opened up on the issues with his battery and the uncomfortable effects of that, which he felt during the race. “The battery wasn’t charging at all. All day long just not running fans and sweating my tail off inside the race car. We knew it was going to be physical. Really wore out,” Reddick described.

He claimed that after his experience at Darlington, he doesn’t need as much of the cooling as he thinks he does. Now, the issues and difficulties were there for Reddick. The car had an issue; he had to fight through unbelievable heat while also remaining focused, making passes, and holding on to his lead.

But the phrase the legendary broadcaster for FOX Sports, Mike Joy, used for Reddick’s day might not be all that fitting. As per Jeff Gluck, Joy claimed Reddick’s Darlington drive to victory was “one of the gutsiest performances in the history of the Cup Series.”

Unsurprisingly, Joy’s comment didn’t sit well the majority of NASCAR fans who thought the broadcaster might be forgetting a lot of incidents and legends from the past.

Fans not happy with Mike Joy’s assessment of Tyler Reddick’s Darlington race

Mike Joy, claiming Tyler Reddick’s Darlington drive was ‘the gutsiest’ in the history of NASCAR, ended up rubbing the fans the wrong way. They challenged Joy’s statement by mentioning all the incidents in the past where drivers have endured through more serious, more dire obstacles in a racecar during a race.

One fan remembered a very recent example, involving Brad Keselowski, who has been suffering from an off-season broken leg injury this year. Keselowski also famously won at Pocono in 2011 with a fractured ankle. “While Brad’s driving around with a broken leg,” the fan wrote.

Another fan was quick to point out the Keselowski incident as well as several others. Ricky Rudd had to tape his eyes open for the 1984 Daytona 500 after an incident days prior left his eyes swollen. Davey Allison also famously showed up at Talladega a week after a broken collarbone and wrist at Pocono.

“Great drive by Tyler… but with all due respect, give me a f—–g break. Brad winning the Glen with a broken ankle. Ricky Rudd taping his eye lids open. Davey Allison wheeling the car hurt I can go on. Winning while being hot because a cool suit failed 😂 stop glazing, Fox,” the fan wrote.

Another fan had a simple reaction to Joy’s comment as they simply said, “We all just set the record for most simultaneous eye rolls in history.”

A fan rolled back the years all the way to Richard Petty’s days, recalling how drivers then didn’t have any of the external modern aids. “Shit, how many races did Richard Petty win when he was literally laying down in victory lane afterwards. No cool suit, no power steering,” they wrote.

Another fan mentioned Joy making the comments presumably in the presence of his FOX Sports colleague Clint Bowyer, who almost passed out after a grueling race at the ROVAL in 2020. “With Clint Bowyer sitting right next to him,” the fan wrote.

Mike Joy’s comment even got a reaction out of Jeremy Mayfield, whose one-word reaction summed it up for most fans as he wrote, “Huh?”

Clearly, Mike Joy claiming Tyler Reddick at Darlington was the gutsiest a NASCAR driver has ever been did not go down well with the fans. But it was a difficult drive indeed and could be considered one of the gutsiest in the modern era of the sport. Do you think that is the case? Let us know in the comments below.