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Tag: Tyler Reddick

  • MJ in Victory Lane! Tyler Reddick gets first win of season as Michael Jordan watches

    MJ in Victory Lane! Tyler Reddick gets first win of season as Michael Jordan watches

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    23XI Racing owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan congratulate driver Tyler Reddick (45) after he won the NASCAR Cup Series’ GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    23XI Racing owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan congratulate driver Tyler Reddick (45) after he won the NASCAR Cup Series’ GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.


    Peter Casey

    USA TODAY Sports

    TALLADEGA, Ala.

    It was one of the most special victories Tyler Reddick could imagine.

    Reddick emerged victorious after a wreck during the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the famed Talladega Superspeedway. It had been another frantic race on the series’ longest track.

    Michael Jordan, co-owner of the 23XI Racing team that fields the Cup cars of Reddick and Bubba Wallace, was atop the No. 45 team’s pit box as the race ended. He jumped up and down with Reddick’s crew members and made his way to pit road.

    The six-time NBA champion who finds himself in every conversation about “who’s the G.O.A.T.?” celebrated on pit road with Reddick’s 4-year-old son, Beau — whom Jordan lifted in the air in celebration — and Reddick’s wife, Alexa De Leon.

    “Some of the most special victories and moments in Victory Lane have had a lot to do with my kid, honestly,” Reddick said. “I remember back to Road America. He was just knocked out. … Fast forward a little bit later, he was awake for Indy, and he watched us kiss the bricks. He was like, ‘What is wrong with you guys?’

    “To have him wide awake in Victory Lane, celebrating with us. He knows who Michael Jordan is.”

    Apr 21, 2024; Talladega, Alabama, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) celebrates winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
    Apr 21, 2024; Talladega, Alabama, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) celebrates winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Peter Casey USA TODAY Sports

    Jordan has been present for many NASCAR races since starting 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin in 2020, but he hadn’t witnessed one of his drivers win, in-person, until Sunday. Hamlin and members of the team had been joking that Jordan being there was bad luck for their drivers.

    Jordan is a big part of his NASCAR team, and it showed on Sunday. Reddick’s crew chief, Billy Scott, explained that Jordan watches every Truck, Xfinity and Cup race and is constantly trying to learn and understand the sport better.

    “As you know, this is NBA playoffs right now, so this to me is like an NBA playoff game,” Jordan told the FOX broadcast. “I am so ecstatic — for obviously the fans that support the sport itself. We’ve been working hard, trying to get ourselves up to where we can compete against all the top guys in this sport. But we’ve done a heck of a job just to be where we are. And for us to win a big race like this means so much to me and for the effort the team has done.

    “Look, I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball. This is even worse — because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I’d have total control, but I have no control. So I live vicariously through the drivers and all the crew chiefs and everybody. I’m very happy for 23XI.”

    His owners looked on as Reddick drove to Victory Lane with a Jordan brand paint scheme on his No. 45 Toyota. Hamlin said he was “very envious” when he saw that car in the shop earlier in the week.

    Reddick didn’t know if Jordan was at the superspeedway until afterward. He joked that maybe that’s the trick — he pushed too hard when he knew his owner was watching.

    “Those are moments that the crew guys get to talk about with their kids for many, many years,” Hamlin said. “We got to celebrate with Michael here winning in his car. These are certainly important memories that these men and women are going to experience for a very long time.”

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    Shane Connuck

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  • As Nascar’s Kurt Busch Writes His Final Chapter, Tyler Reddick Starts His Next One

    As Nascar’s Kurt Busch Writes His Final Chapter, Tyler Reddick Starts His Next One

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    As NASCAR champion Kurt Busch prepares for another chapter, perhaps the final one, of his long racing career, driver Tyler Reddick will also be starting a new chapter in his racing career.

    It’s a chapter that will begin being written a little sooner than originally planned.

    Saturday Busch announced that he will be stepping away from fulltime racing in 2023. The 44-year-old has certainly been looking towards the sunset of his career in the last few years. But a concussion he suffered during a crash during qualifying in July put him on the sidelines. With his recovery still ongoing, Busch elected to move up his retirement plans, though he left the door open to racing in NASCAR, and other forms of motorsports on a part time basis.

    The move was the first domino in a row that had teams scrambling behind the scenes. Because Busch stepping away opens a seat on the 23XI Racing team where Busch has raced since 2020. That seat belongs to Tyler Reddick.

    Earlier this season, Reddick announced, much to the surprise of his current team Richard Childress Racing and the rest of NASCAR, that he had signed to race for 23XI Racing starting in 2024. There was speculation that Busch might retire after next season, opening the seat for Reddick. That left Reddick in a sort of limbo for 2023 as he was still under contract at RCR.

    MORE FROM FORBESNascar’s Kurt Busch Begins His Final Chapter Perhaps A Bit Sooner Than He WantedBy Greg Engle

    The waters became even murkier in September when Childress announced that they had signed Kurt’s younger brother Kyle to a contract to race the car Reddick now occupies. Team owner Richard Childress said at the time that they would find a seat for Reddick at the team for 2023, though what that would be remained a mystery.

    With Kurt Busch’s announcement, that mystery is now solved.

    At nearly the same moment as Kurt started his press conference, 23XI and RCR issued statements confirming that the final year of Reddick’s contract had been bought out, and he will now move to 23XI Racing a year earlier than planned.

    “Their discussions, I had no part of, it was directly between 23XI and RCR,’’ Reddick said. “It was between those two and they came to an agreement and worked it out so that I get started a year early.

    “Unfortunately, Kurt’s situation is what brought this opportunity about, which is a tough thing. It’s tough and I really hate to see that for him. But he’s a team player and I’ve seen that in his time outside the car.’’

    Reddick insists he will continue to give his all to the RCR team in the four races they have remaining together. He proved that by winning the pole at Las Vegas a few hours after the Busch press conference.

    “Certainly, it is nice to know – like, ‘hey, this is what the future is going to hold’,” he said. “I’m going to get to go over there earlier than I planned and just start working on those things that myself and a lot of the ownership over there talked about wanting to do and why we wanted to get together. We just get a year earlier start on that and that is very exciting for me.

    “I’m excited in a weird way for all of the things that we’re going to have in front of us. In a weird way, it’s always been really fun for me to put a lot of work into something like I have at RCR and see how much has come out of it. So, I’m really excited to do that again and do that at 23XI.”

    The question of where he will be racing, or if he would be racing, in 2023 has now been answered. That leaves Reddick free of the anxieties that could have slowed him on track, though two of his three wins came after his 23XI Racing announcement in July which could have proven at least one thing:

    “It wasn’t a distraction at all, honestly,” he said.

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    Greg Engle, Contributor

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  • Concussed NASCAR champion Kurt Busch to step away from sport

    Concussed NASCAR champion Kurt Busch to step away from sport

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    LAS VEGAS — NASCAR champion Kurt Busch will miss the rest of this season with a concussion and will not compete full-time in 2023.

    The 44-year-old made his announcement Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track and where he launched his career on the bullring as a child. He choked up when he said doctors told him “it is best for me to ‘shut it down.’”

    “I know I am not 100% in my ability to go out and race at the top level in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Busch said. “These are the best of the best drivers, and lately, I haven’t felt my best.”

    Busch said Tyler Reddick will replace him in the No. 45 Toyota at 23XI Racing next season. Reddick was signed to the team for the 2024 season, but is no longer needed to complete his contract at Richard Childress Racing because RCR signed Kyle Busch, Kurt’s younger brother and a two-time Cup champion, for next season.

    “If I’m cleared, maybe you’ll see me at a few select races” next season, Busch said.

    Busch was injured in a routine crash in July that exposed a design flaw in NASCAR’s new Next Gen car. He’s so far missed 13 consecutive races. Driver Alex Bowman, who was also injured this year, has missed two straight and said this week he’ll be out at least three more.

    Busch is the last active driver who competed in a Cup race against the late Dale Earnhardt, and the last driver who was part of the inaugural 10-driver Chase for the Cup in 2004, the year he upset the Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut and won his only title.

    Busch’s retirement leaves Kevin Harvick as the last active driver who raced when NASCAR’s top series was called the Winston Cup Series.

    23XI praised Busch’s contributions to the second-year team.

    “From the day Kurt Busch joined our team, we knew he was going to elevate our organization in many ways,” the team said. “From earning 23XI our first playoff berth with his commanding win at Kansas Speedway to numerous hours spent off the track helping to grow our program, Kurt has made us better.

    “This season took an unexpected turn with his injury. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Kurt has not stopped being a true professional and a trusted teammate. We fully support Kurt’s decision to focus on his health and are grateful for his guidance as our team builds a strong foundation for the future.”

    He’s in his second season with 23XI Racing and team co-owner Denny Hamlin said the organization and Toyota want Busch to remain part of the team. He’s under contract through next season to 23XI.

    “Kurt’s decision to step away from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition next year is certainly not something anyone expected when we started the season together and celebrated in victory lane at Kansas Speedway earlier this year,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development

    “Unfortunate circumstances led Kurt to a difficult decision, but we know that he will continue to contribute to the entire program at Toyota, TRD and 23XI Racing. He brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and firsthand championship experience to his team and fellow Toyota competitors. We’re here to support Kurt in this next chapter of his career and look forward to continuing to work alongside him.”

    Busch made his Cup debut in 2000 with Roush Racing in a Ford, then ran the full season as a rookie in 2001. He was fired after five tumultuous seasons with Roush — a stint that included his 2004 title — and moved to Team Penske to drive a Dodge in 2006.

    His Penske relationship also ended poorly after the 2011 season and Busch moved to Phoenix Racing to drive a Chevrolet for James Finch for one season, then went to Furniture Row Racing in 2013 where he revitalized his career — and began to show maturity on and off the track with his notorious temper.

    Busch moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and was suspended by NASCAR for the first three races of 2015 for domestic violence allegations made by an ex-girlfriend. He later landed with Chip Ganassi Racing and finally 23XI to drive a Toyota in 2021.

    He is one of the rare drivers to compete in all of NASCAR’s manufacturers. Busch and his brother join Bobby and Terry Labonte as the only siblings to win Cup titles.

    Busch won 34 races in 776 starts over 23 years, including the Daytona 500 in 2017 with SHR and sponsor Monster, which has remained with him to this day.

    “For more than two decades, we have been privileged to watch Kurt Busch compete. He has proven himself a champion on the racetrack, but perhaps just as importantly, he has grown to become a true ambassador for the sport,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “Kurt’s drive to improve the future of motorsports has set him apart. We are thrilled that he’ll remain in our sport as a leader and trusted resource. Kurt’s unparalleled passion for racing gives us hope that we will see him in a race car again.”

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