Let’s just wind our clocks back a little. Tyler Reddick’s 2024 season felt like the culmination of everything 23XI Racing had set out to do. Anchoring the team’s rise, he captured the Regular Season Championship by the slimmest of margins. Just one point over Kyle Larson after a gutsy top-10 run at Darlington. It was a signature performance: career highs in wins, top fives, and laps led, alongside a clutch victory at Homestead that punched his ticket into the Championship 4. Fast-forward to 2025, and the momentum has balked.
Despite high expectations for himself and the organization, Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota has struggled to find consistent speed. Now, with ongoing legal drama with NASCAR over their charter status, Reddick and 23XI face not only on-track adversity but looming financial and career fallout. With the playoffs in view, and a spot not yet guaranteed, what once felt inevitable now teeters on uncertainty.
From charter chaos to career crisis at 23XI for Tyler Reddick
Since losing their charter status following a rejection of their preliminary injunction amid the NASCAR lawsuit, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have been forced to compete as open entries in recent races. This means their cars are no longer guaranteed a starting spot, must qualify on time, and face reduced payouts. Amid this off‑track turmoil, 23XI’s spearhead, Tyler Reddick, finds himself in murky waters.
Coming off a regular season title in 2024, expectations were sky-high. Instead, running in his sixth full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Tyler Reddick finds himself winless so far. While he has eight top‑10 finishes in 21 starts and sits fifth in the driver’s standings, he has only one playoff point to show for it. “Honestly, for us, making the playoffs is the minimum requirement,” Reddick made his expectations clear while speaking to RACER ahead of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With his 23XI future in question, and his contract featuring an exit clause if chartered status can’t be provided, Reddick says playoffs are only the floor, not the ceiling, emphasizing how a lack of playoff points can hamper their progress. “This team, the kind of performance we bring to the racetrack, whether it’s our pit crew, the cars, or how we strategize and race, it’s crazy to even think we’re worried about making the playoffs, considering what kind of team I think we are. So, to be in the playoffs, you have to make it, I get that. But for us, it’s more about ‘OK, we’re in it, great, but we need playoff points. We need to do all these things,” Reddick said.
Now, one can argue that with just five races left in the regular season and four spots still to be determined on the playoff grid, Tyler Reddick looks comfortable to qualify as the highest driver on the provisional list. But, as we have seen season after season in NASCAR, there are no guarantees. Last year saw shock winners like Harrison Burton at Daytona and Chase Briscoe at Darlington swooping in to punch their ticket, a daunting possibility for winless Reddick, whose ambitions lie well ahead of merely making the postseason. However, even if he makes it in, Reddick is aware of the uphill battle ahead.
Feb 14, 2024; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) speaks with reporters during media day at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Reddick added, “Ultimately, that means when it does get started, we’re going to have to work really hard or run 20 to 30 spots better than guys we’re around each round. I think we’re capable of that, but now we’re asking for some help along the way, too. Some of the strong teams making mistakes.” With just a single playoff point, the points reset after 26 races could hurt the #45, who entered last year’s postseason as the third seed with 28 playoff points.
Thus, Reddick has his reservations for the postseason, adding, “I don’t love the spot that we’re in for those reasons. Yeah, I feel good about making the playoffs, but for me and this team, the goal isn’t making the playoffs; it’s going far in the playoffs. It’s making it to the Championship 4 and competing for championships.” While his struggles are quite worrisome given his pedigree, his 23XI compatriots face an even more daunting task.
Rookie Riley Herbst is still learning the ropes of Cup Series competition, but #23 Bubba Wallace is having a topsy-turvy time behind the wheel, and co-owner Denny Hamlin is aware of their shortcomings.
23XI’s winless woes run deep
Tyler Reddick’s struggles aren’t happening in a vacuum. They’re part of a broader slump engulfing all of 23XI Racing. Across its three-car roster, the team is still winless in 2025, a stunning statistic for an organization backed by elite resources and expectations from co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
Bubba Wallace, still searching for his first victory since 2022, sits 13th, just +16 on the cut line. Inconsistent finishes have marred the #23’s campaign, as he blends 6 top-10 finishes with 6 DNFs, ultimately putting him in a precarious spot. Meanwhile, rookie Riley Herbst is facing the harsh realities of life in the NASCAR Cup Series. Though growing pains are expected for first-year drivers, Herbst’s 35th position in the standings shows how far off the mark the entire program has been this season.
Team co-owner Denny Hamlin hasn’t sugarcoated his disappointment. Speaking bluntly after Atlanta last month, Hamlin said, “I need all my cars winning at some point. There are just too many resources, too many good people over there not to win more races, and certainly. I think we’ve underperformed as far as actually winning this year.”
Tyler Reddick echoed those frustrations, pointing out that the team hasn’t capitalized when opportunities to win have emerged. It’s not that they’ve lacked speed; rather, the execution. “Unfortunately, when those opportunities have been there (to win), we haven’t executed. We’ve made a mistake, we’ve done something along the way that either makes that much more difficult to win or takes out of it. So that’s just kind of the name of the game.” Strategy, pit calls, and late-race adjustments haven’t come together when it counts. One moment that sticks out is the Coca-Cola 600, where Tyler Reddick finished in the top 5 in each of the first three stages (2, 3, and 4) before inadvertently slamming the wall in the final stage and damaging his hopes for a win.
With five races left before the playoffs, time is running out. If 23XI Racing can’t break this winless drought soon, they’ll not only face postseason uncertainty but also a serious crisis of identity for a team expected to be among NASCAR’s elite. Can they see a miracle run in the last stage of the regular season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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