Tyler Reddick is coming off his worst finish of the young 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
An eighth-place run last week at Phoenix.
It’s been a dominant start to the season for Reddick. He won the first three races of the year – Daytona 500, Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas – before his streak came to an end in Phoenix.
Reddick could start another one when the Cup Series returns to Las Vegas this weekend.
The driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, leads the Cup Series standings by 60 points over Ryan Blaney.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the first of its two Cup Series races with the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, with the green flag time scheduled to fly just after 1 p.m.
The action around the 1½-mile D-shaped oval begins Saturday with Cup Series practice and qualifying beginning at 11:30 a.m., and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at 2:30 p.m.
“Speed-wise, we show up to Vegas, we’re typically in the top five trying to get to the lead,” Reddick said in an interview with the Review-Journal after his second win of the year in Atlanta. “It was very nice to see that speed out of our cars when we were there last fall. … Every time we go to Vegas, we’re normally pretty solid.
“It’s like a great first place for us to have our first intermediate race.”
‘Continue improving’
Intermediate tracks like Las Vegas have been a strong suit for 23XI Racing. Three of Reddick’s seven wins with the organization since joining in 2023 have come at intermediate tracks.
Reddick, 30, from Corning, California, is looking for his first win at Las Vegas. He is coming off a fifth-place run in the most recent race at the track last October.
Reddick has scored six top 10 finishes in his last nine Las Vegas races. He has victories in NASCAR’s two other national touring series – the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series.
This year, Reddick and his team are looking to reach rarefied air, like his boss Jordan did in the NBA, by getting the organization its first title in its seventh year of existence.
“Good enough isn’t good enough,” said Reddick, who was the 2024 regular-season champion. “We just keep working on things and just try to figure out what the next thing is going to be with the car, with my approach, so that we can just continue improving, because I know our competition is doing the same.”
Eventful 2025
Reddick has surpassed his win total from last season, when he was winless. There were a few situations away from the track that had Reddick’s attention.
First, 23XI Racing and NASCAR were involved in a lengthy antitrust lawsuit regarding the sport’s charter agreement that the team filed late in the 2024 season and dragged into 2025.
The team lost its charter status during the 2025 season, which included the guaranteed starting spot on the grid and a hit in race earnings earned for each event. The two sides settled after a nearly two-week trial that reinstated the team’s charter status and gave teams permanent charters.
Reddick also dealt with a personal matter late last season when his infant son, Rookie, was diagnosed with a tumor in his chest. Reddick shared after his Daytona 500 win that his son has been doing well since the surgery last year.
‘The details matter’
Once the 2025 season ended, Reddick said his team had a “healthy approach” for the offseason to get ready for next season.
“The details matter,” Reddick said. “The details matter on the racecar. The details matter in the preparation, in communication. There’s just so many things it takes. It’s crazy, I lived it in 2025, it doesn’t take much to get off track.
“I don’t think anyone wasted any time (once the offseason hit). I think everyone quickly got to work on what do we need to fix? What do we need to improve? What do we need to communicate and talk about? I just feel like we made good use of this offseason.”
There is no more win-and-in for NASCAR’s playoff system. But race winners earn 55 points in the standings for a win compared to 40 previously. That’s given Reddick a large lead in the standings and what could help his team make a run at the title.
“Everyone thought coming into this consistency and all those things are super important,” Reddick said. “Just in two races (after his Atlanta win), you’re able to see what kind of separation can occur when a team or driver kind of gets it rolling. Fortunately, that was us.
“It is kind of crazy to look at (the standings). We’re going to do everything we can to try and grow that lead some more.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Up next
What: NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
TV: FS1
Favorite: Kyle Larson +450
