In the final weeks of Alexa DeLeon Reddick’s pregnancy, husband Tyler Reddick slept in a tent.
No, he wasn’t in trouble. He was in training.
NASCAR’s first race outside the continental United States since 1958 presents drivers and teams with a unique challenge — Mexico City’s elevation.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the 15-turn, 2.42-mile course Xfinity and Cup drivers will compete on this weekend, sits at an elevation of nearly 7,500 feet. The next highest track on the Cup circuit in terms of elevation is Las Vegas Motor Speedway at about 2,000 feet above sea level.
With less oxygen at higher altitudes, driver performance could be impacted.
Drivers have tried different methods to prepare for the impact on their bodies from arriving in Mexico City earlier to acclimate, to wearing a mask that simulates less oxygen to sleeping in a hypoxic tent.
Reddick was among those who slept in a tent to adjust to the higher altitude and mitigate potential symptoms of altitude sickness.
“One side effect of it is my wife hasn’t been super happy about me sleeping in a hypoxic environment especially at the later stages of her pregnancy,” said Reddick, whose wife delivered the couple’s second child May 25.
While he said he noticed benefits from using the tent, will Reddick continue to use it as a part of his training after Mexico?
“My wife would throw a fit if I come home from Mexico and I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to keep this tent thing going.’ She might put the tent outside,” Reddick said laughing.
The tent was part of the training program Toyota developed for its drivers after Christopher Bell raised questions before the season about what would be done to help maintain maximum performance in such trying conditions.
“We started that early in the season just talking and getting a plan together, making sure we’re prepared for it,” Bell said. “I’m proud of everyone at Toyota, the Toyota Performance Center. Caitlin Quinn has really headed up the department of physical fitness and made sure we’re ready for this challenge. Hopefully, the Toyota drivers are the ones that are succeeding.”
Quinn is the director of performance for the Toyota Performance Center in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was a strength coach at Florida State University before joining Toyota Performance Center.
The department has grown to include a sports dietician, physical therapist, physician assistant for orthopedic issues, mental health and wellness specialist, an additional strength coach and, as Quinn said, “just every science tool we can imagine.”
Quinn said all that is done “to help drivers find their edge in the car. The teams work really hard on making the cars as fast as possible and we’re trying to make the drivers able to perform at the best of their ability physically and mentally.”
After the conversation with Bell, Quinn began to work on a program to help drivers prepare for Mexico. That led to a couple of ways to help drivers adjust.
One was having drivers get used to a lower oxygen environment when they’re resting (the tent). Another was having them exercise in an environment where there was less oxygen. Toyota enclosed a space in its center with a bicycle inside it for drivers to ride in a lower oxygen setting.
Quinn said Toyota starting implementing those programs about eight weeks ago for drivers.
“I did a lot of exercising in the altitude tent,” said Bell, who will compete in both the Xfinity and Cup races in Mexico City. “Let’s see if it works.”
Reddick said sleeping in hypoxic tent proved beneficial, noting he felt he got better sleep in it.
“It is different sleeping in a hypoxic environment,” he said. “I’ve noted the changes so far, and I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like when I get there to Mexico City.”
