Surprised by Reddick's start to the NASCAR season? Maybe you shouldn't be

23XI Racing pulled off one of NASCAR’s best-kept secrets and impressively-executed announcements when it signed Tyler Reddick.

It was July 12, 2022. The media alert did not raise eyebrows, offering a chance to get a midseason assessment from team president Steve Lauletta, co-owner Denny Hamlin, and then TRD president David Wilson. All three gave an opening comment on how the season was going. Then the floor was opened up to questions.

Only two questions had been asked when a new face popped up on the Microsoft Teams meeting. About nine minutes and 50 seconds had passed since availability began.

“Oh, hey, guys,” Reddick said.

Remember, at the time, Reddick was driving the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

“Tyler, I appreciate you joining our availability man, but you might have entered the wrong media availability session,” said the Toyota rep.

No, it was all according to plan. A surprise plan – to those on the call at least – as 23XI Racing wanted to make sure they were in control of their announcement before it began to leak to the public.

“Actually, I don’t think that he did,” responded Hamlin. “I’d like to announce to the media today, to formally announce, Tyler Reddick … a future member of the 23XI and Toyota Racing family starting in 2024.”

The others on the call remained silent.

Reddick's first win with 23XI came at the same site of his most recent triumph. Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Surprised?” asked Reddick. “Surprise,” said Hamlin.

No one should be surprised by Reddick and 23XI Racing now.

The timeline for Reddick getting behind the wheel of the No. 45, which came a year early in 2023, was unfortunately accelerated when Kurt Busch was forced to retire after a concussion suffered in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway. That crash occurred 11 days after the surprise Reddick announcement. (Ty Gibbs finished the ’22 season in Busch’s car.)

Now, fast-forward from July 12, 2022, to March 3, 2025: Reddick is the hottest driver in the Cup Series and its newest history-maker. Reddick became the first driver to win the first three races of a season on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas – a stretch that started with his first triumph in the Daytona 500.

Undefeated. The series point leader. The series laps led leader. It’s all Reddick right now, and this is the Reddick that has always been there. Reddick did not win two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championships by chance. He wasn’t signed by owners like Brad Keselowski, Chip Ganassi, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Childress, and now Hamlin because of his sparkling personality either.

But the vision of what Reddick could do at NASCAR’s top level was never fully realized until he was signed by 23XI Racing and placed in a car that matched his capabilities.

“He’s complete,” Hamlin said after Reddick’s latest win. “The one area that we continue to work on with him is on the short tracks; I think that’s where he can still improve a little bit. But we’re working pretty hard on improving him on those tracks. But he’s complete, and certainly more complete than I am at this stage where I’ve got a handful races where it’s like, it’ll be tough for us to go out there and compete for a win. There’s less of those for him.

“So, he’s got a lot of really good things going on, and I think we’re steadily seeing him continue to get better. What I love to see is the work that he puts in and the things that we provide him for information, he’s soaking it all in and using it and executing it. So, what I’ve seen over the last few years is just where he had some weaknesses, our team has helped him shore those up, and it’s amazing to see how well he’s doing.”

Victory at the Daytona 500 set Reddick off on his record-breaking run. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Their first season together laid the foundation with two wins. A year later, in 2024, Reddick matched a career-high three-win season and made the championship race. He also won the regular-season championship.

By now, it’s been well documented that Reddick and his group had a down year in 2025, but even that was a season that many other drivers would have loved to have. Reddick sat fourth in the points standings in mid-July and ultimately ended the year ninth.

In his first three seasons at 23XI Racing, Reddick won five races. He now has three after three races in his fourth season. There is no reason to believe he won’t keep winning – maybe not consecutively, but at some point, again this season.

Reddick is one of the best talents the sport has seen, and can get the most out of his race cars. He’s long been a superstar, but over the last three weeks has never shone brighter.

“I think a lot of it (just comes down) to natural ability and being in a good place,” crew chief Billy Scott said. “He’s put a lot of work into not just the on-track side of things but also where we stand with expectations. He’s kept all that in good perspective and comes every week hungry to do it again and he’s just able to.

“There’s really not many places that he’s not a contender.”

23XI Racing perfectly executed its signing of Reddick. Now the two sides are showing what perfect execution between the right team and driver can really do.