Kevin Harvick reacts to Tyler Reddick racing at Kansas with his son hospitalized

Tyler Reddick had a lot on his mind this past weekend at Kansas Speedway. Of course, Reddick was there to do his job and compete in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

His thoughts were elsewhere after the race; they were solely focused on his 4-month-old son, Rookie, who is hospitalized at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C. Rookie is in a cardiovascular intensive care unit with signs of heart failure, Reddick’s wife, Alexa, shared before the race. Reddick considered skipping the Round of 12 race but ultimately, he made the decision to stay.

Kevin Harvick lived the NASCAR life for over two decades. He talked about how difficult it can be as a driver to perform on the racetrack and navigate life off of it.

“A lot of people just wanna critique and criticize people for what they do in the race car,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “A lot of times, they forget that these are families and humans, and you’ve got to deal with the circle of life while in the middle of this intense cycle of events that happen on and off the racetrack. It can become extremely difficult to navigate life and perform at a high level.

“I feel like they were a little bit off this weekend, made the mistake, got back in the field and got themselves back in contention and had a chance at the end. Tyler drove his butt off, but it is tough to navigate everything in life and race at the level that you wanna race at. We hope everything is good with Tyler and his family.”

Tyler Reddick picks up top 10 at Kansas

Reddick rallied to finish seventh at Kansas, his second top 10 this postseason. He remains minus-29 below the cutline heading into this Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL, meaning he’s in a virtual must-win situation.

Obviously, Reddick wasn’t thinking about that after the race. His priority was getting back home.

“It’s difficult. It’s not what you want for your kids,” Reddick said. “You know, as a father, it’s … my first son Beau’s hit his head, you know, bruised himself up, cut himself up, but yeah, what my son Rookie’s going through is serious. So yeah, a tricky situation, and just more than anything, just ready to get on a plane and go home.”