Tyler Reddick rides the middle lane in Turn 1 during the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — 23XI Racing’s playoff quest has been a wild rollercoaster. At times, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace look like the class of the field and then 30 minutes later, they are barely holding on to the top 20. For Reddick, that has been the case all season, especially in the playoffs.
The former Final Four competitor was one of the hottest drivers in the sport for the past couple of seasons, tallying five victories and 22 top 10 finishes over that span. But 2025 has been a different story for the No. 45 team. The race-winning pace that was once in the powerhouse Toyota camp has not been an asset when it comes to the end of races, especially ones like the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway this past weekend.
Reddick had the race that you would expect out of him if you kept an eye on that No. 45 machine this year. At points in the show, the veteran driver was battling for position in the top five and then next thing you know, the 23XI driver found himself back in 20th or even farther down the running order.
After the strong showing this team had at Darlington, falling just short of victory to Toyota ally Chase Briscoe, it looked like the No. 45 was set for a massive turnaround in the playoffs. That really has not been the case, and that has been evident for both 23XI playoff cars.
Wallace wheeled his No. 23 car in the lead or near the front of the pack at times during the Round of 16 cutoff race at Bristol a couple of weeks ago, until a hiccup from a pit stall fire halted a green flag pit stop, sending the No. 23 to the rear of the field. In the closing laps of that race, Wallace saw more trouble, getting involved in a wreck with Brad Keselowski, which resulted in major contact with the outside safer barrier in Turn 3, ending the Brickyard 400 winner’s night.
Tyler Reddick (bottom) battles three-wide with Ross Chastain (middle) and Kyle Busch (top) during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 13th. (Photo: Kyle Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
The Round of 12 has not treated 23XI well, and yet again, the closing laps at Kansas haunted Reddick and his dwindling championship hopes. When the field took the final green flag of the day on a second overtime attempt, Wallace was leading the field and Reddick was solidly holding onto third place in the running order. Things were starting to look extremely promising for both drivers, but the playoffs bring drama, and the final lap of the race showed exactly that.
Heading down the backstretch for the final time, 23XI owner and driver of the No. 11 Denny Hamlin got a huge run on the leading No. 23 machine. In Turn 3, both cars were side-by-side, battling for a ticket to the Round of 8, and neither driver backed off the gas. Eventually, Hamlin caught the side of Wallace, sending both into the outside retaining wall, giving the No. 9 of Chase Elliott a clear and easy path to his second victory of the season. For Reddick, he was just a bit too far back in traffic to make a move and had to settle for a solid seventh place result.
“It’s tough… obviously there’s only one thing we can do at Charlotte, and that’s what we’ll be focused on,” said Reddick in his post-race comments.
The driver out of Corning, California can only do one thing to solve his playoff woes: win. No matter what the consequences of his actions on-track are next weekend at the Charlotte Roval, the No. 45 will be on a tear to keep their playoff hopes alive. However, that is not the only thing that Reddick has to handle right now.
His son, Rookie, is currently in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Levine Children’s Hospital with indications of heart failure. The amount of pressure on Reddick is overwhelming at the moment, and hopefully, good news will be heard on the situation with his son in the near future.
“It’s not what you want for your kids… 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.”
The playoffs and his NASCAR career are absolutely second for the veteran driver right now, but a win at the cutoff race this upcoming weekend can change the course of the entire NASCAR Cup Series playoff field in an instant.
