23XI Racing came into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup race at Kansas Speedway in a somber mood. They had their backs to the wall both on and off the track.
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23XI’s two playoff drivers — Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace — were in the final two places below the cutline to advance to the Round of 8 in the playoffs. This, while the future of the entire team is also potentially on the line, pending the outcome of the lawsuit: 23XI and Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR and its charter system.
Team co-owner Michael Jordan has reportedly said that if NASCAR wins the lawsuit, he and co-owner Denny Hamlin could shut the entire operation down. But before that could potentially happen, Reddick is 23 points below the cutoff line, while Wallace is 27 points below.
If both have a rough race at Kansas on Sunday, the only way either driver will likely be able to advance to the next round is to win next Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval. But given only one driver can win that race, it’s looking more and more likely that one of the two drivers (if not both, if neither wins at Charlotte) will fail to advance to the semifinal round.
Reddick had a somber look on his face during his media availability at Kansas on Saturday. He knows what’s at stake and what he and the entire organization need to do. “Everyone has had their head down for sure,” he said. “It was a tough week.”
Reddick finished 21st at New Hampshire last Sunday, the first race of the Round of 12, while Wallace finished 26th.
“We all know we got our asses kicked pretty good at Loudon, and I feel like it’s motivated everyone properly,” Reddick said. “It’s easy to be down, but we have two opportunities to either win or score a lot of points [Kansas and the Roval].
“You look at other mile-and-a-half tracks this year, and we’ve brought cars capable of winning races at those tracks. It’s been a while since Charlotte Motor Speedway [the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend] since we’ve had a true mile-and-a-half race. So there’s been a lot of time for things to change, for people to catch up, and [for] people to fall behind. I think that just adds to the nerves of the weekend to see how we perform when we get to the racetrack,” added Reddick.
23XI has had just one win this season
Wallace claimed the only win for 23XI so far this season, and it was a big one. He captured the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. He also has just four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the first 30 races.
Reddick, on the other hand, is riding a 32-race winless streak, dating back to the last two races of last season. He has six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. But Reddick isn’t giving up on his chances to advance to the next round.
“I’m almost positive the last two seasons we’ve gone into the Roval below the cutline. You never want to go into that race in that position, but you don’t want to go into that race in a tricky spot,” said Reddick.
“My gut would say even if we are outside by ten points, it’s doable (to advance to the Round of 8). Sitting where we are, minus 23 points outside, that’s a pretty hard number to overcome. That’s counting on others not getting stage points.
“I would love to win and not worry about this next week, but we’ve been able to overcome a deficit twice over the last few years. That does give me confidence,” he concluded.
