Tyler Reddick plays defense vs. cat trying to invade Zoom call

NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick was just trying to talk about how he’s preparing for the massive changes in the Cup Series schedule this season. He was just trying to explain how working with a racing simulator could help him with more road courses and a dirt track race in the lineup.

But his cat had other plans, which seemingly included attempting to commandeer Reddick’s Zoom press conference for at least the second time not even a month into the season.

Earlier this month ahead of the season-opening Daytona 500, the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver was doing his preseason virtual media rounds, and his cat apparently wasn’t a fan of him hogging the spotlight. So she invaded the call for an impromptu cameo.

Well, Friday when Reddick had another Zoom press conference going into Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the cat attempted to steal some more camera time. But Reddick was ready, playing some stellar defense this time to keep his cat from taking over.

Talking about working in a racing simulator, Reddick said:

“You can’t arc it in every single lap and do all these crazy things next to the bottom and be able to have any good speed, really, in your car after 10 or 15 laps. So you’ve really got to just make it as realistic as possible when you’re — sorry, dang cat. She’s trying to get in the screen again.

“You’ve just gotta make it as realistic as possible when you work on it because if you do unrealistic things, you’re going to have unrealistic expectations when you get to the race track.

“This dang cat.”

Dang cat, indeed.

While we’re impressed the cat couldn’t penetrate Reddick’s tough perimeter, we’re a little disappointed it didn’t get any face time during this press conference. So maybe the driver and his feline companion can compromise and share the camera next time.