Even when Tyler Reddick’s car has numerous issues, it feels like everyone in NASCAR this season is racing for second.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota picked up his fourth win in the first six races to open the 2026 Cup Series season, as he raced to victory at the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. As Reddick gave Michael Jordan’s 23XI another victory, it didn’t come without some issues. He started off on the pole but lost the lead in Stage 1 when he dealt with an issue with his alternator. Reddick’s car needed a battery change in Stage 2, and his cool suit stopped working in Stage 3.
However, none of that mattered as Reddick was able to regain the lead with just under 30 laps to go. He didn’t give it up, either, driving safely to victory in the end in what’s been a surprise start to the season for Reddick and 23XI.
But how have Reddick and 23XI been able to find success this season after the driver went winless in 2025 and the team only picked up one checkered flag last year?
Well, FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick believes things have fallen into place for the unit after 23XI Racing dealt with a lawsuit against NASCAR last season.
“They have hit the balance at Darlington a little better than everybody else,” Harvick said on the latest episode of “SPEED With Harvick And Buxton.”
“But we’ve had a sample size — we’ve had a road course, two superspeedway races with Dayton and Atlanta and our new short track package — and they’ve been good at all of them. I think that 23XI just has less going on this year. They’re still a pretty young team. I think that when you have that stability of everything that’s going on, and I think that Toyota has the best car right now.”
[TYLER REDDICK: Michael Jordan Praises ‘Unbelievable’ Darlington Win]
Past Reddick, a few 23XI’s different drivers have had stable begins as properly. Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 Toyota, has 4 top-10 finishes and 5 top-11 finishes to this point this season. Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 35 Toyota, completed eighth at Daytona, along with his transfer on the ultimate lap serving to Reddick to safe the victory on the two.5-mile monitor.
Nonetheless, Harvick credited Reddick for stepping up this season after the 30-year-old racer had a down yr in 2025.
“Tyler Reddick has stepped up from a maturity standpoint simply in his management of the crew,” Harvick stated on “SPEED.”
“He is actually exposing his functionality as a driver and who he’s, and when you have got that confidence and also you see the reward on your efforts like Tyler Reddick and that 23XI crew are seeing, that is simply going to snowball into increasingly more confidence. While you get confidence on this sport as a driver and as a crew, that may assist to beat numerous issues identical to it did for the 45.”
Harvick additionally believes that 23XI is racing prefer it’s on a mission, detailing the crew’s strategy at first of every weekend by race day.
“I feel these guys had been in a league of their very own, actually from the time they dropped the inexperienced flag for apply straight into qualifying and into the beginning of the race,” Harvick stated. “I feel we’re in all probability sitting right here speaking a special tune about how the race went if Reddick does not have these issues. For us, it was an excellent present and gave us quite a bit to speak about due to the truth that they needed to go to the again, change the battery and do all of the issues that they did.”
And once you’ve obtained preparation and confidence in your facet, it is fairly robust for different drivers to beat that.
“You may’t beat quick automobiles, and Tyler Reddick has stepped up to have the ability to ship on these quick automobiles,” Harvick stated. “Now, the boldness this crew has, you see it within the conditions once they’re overcoming issues like they did this weekend. Confidence and pace are onerous to beat.”
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