Tyler Reddick takes part in the Southern 500 in Darlington despite battling illness, and Martin Truex Jr. could take over if things get really bad. The NBC Sports broadcast team (according to Stephen Stumpf of Front line) said Reddick’s team has not yet contacted Truex, saying he would be a “last resort” and even if he did, there would be issues with the seat adjustment.

Truex wrecked his car two laps into the Southern 500, so his day is over. But since he’s a Toyota teammate, he could replace Reddick, who has already secured a playoff spot. Truex has a good chance of making the postseason, but could lose his playoff spot depending on the outcome of the race.

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For Truex, this will be his last season as a full-time driver since he announced his retirement earlier this year. On Saturday, the 44-year-old driver talked about potentially missing the playoffs if things don’t go his way.

Martin Truex Jr. talks about possibly missing the playoffs

“I hate to even talk about it because I’ve seen crazy things happen in my time here,” Truex said Saturday about Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We should be fine. Hopefully nothing happens that’s out of our control and that’s what really gets us out of this mess. If we just race smart, don’t have any retirements, don’t have anything crazy happen, don’t get run over or crash early or whatever, then we’ll be fine. I’m excited about our car. I thought it was really close today and the best I’ve had here in a couple of years.”

Once the 2024 season ends, Truex will be living life to the fullest but may still be involved with Joe Gibbs Racing. “Martin will continue to be our ambassador for years to come,” Joe Gibbs said in June.

“We’re still talking about things he could do for us and it’ll be exciting if we can get him off a boat or out of a tree stand. We have a chance. I’m still amazed and I’ve still said to him, ‘Do you really think you can fish every day?’ So that’ll be interesting, I think we can get him back for some things.”