Until a few months back, Chase Elliott was the name that Tyler Reddick’s 4-year-old son Beau uttered when someone asked him who his favorite driver was. But that isn’t the case anymore. The Hendrick Motorsports superstar now faces tough competition to be the boy’s top pick. Talking to veteran reporter Jeff Gluck, Tyler revealed where his son’s allegiance currently lay.
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He said, “Chase was the favorite, no questions asked. But it certainly feels like now it’s more of a 50-50 split. He used to say Chase, then Dad, then it was either Denny [Hamlin] or Bubba [Wallace]. Sometimes he’d say Kyle Larson. But now he’s always saying “Dad and Chase” or “Chase and Dad.” Then Bubba has moved into the third slot.”
Beau was born in January of 2020. He’d almost been named Ryker, which was his mother Alexa DeLeon’s choice before Tyler won the 2019 Xfinity Championship and named him Beau instead. The NASCAR world got a good glimpse of the boy when basketball superstar Michael Jordan carried him around Talladega after Tyler won the Cup Series race there last month.
Quite the racing aficionado even as a toddler, Beau had wanted to do nothing but check out the race cars during the 2022 Daytona 500. With age, his maturity about the sport appears to be growing to a higher level as well. Tyler continued how the boy supports and reassures him before the races.
How Elliott feels about not being Beau’s favorite driver anymore
In an interview in Charlotte before the 2024 season began, Elliott was told (upon instructions from Reddick) about him not being Beau’s favorite driver anymore. The former Cup champion was left devastated by it. He responded, “Am I not? That’s devastating! That hurts, honestly. It must have been recent because I saw a picture of him. He was all decked out in his NAPA firesuit for Halloween. Man, I liked Beau too! So, that sucks.”
Back in 2022, Tyler had not even been in his son’s top 10 favorite drivers. From there he has made quite the comeback to being named alongside Elliott as a favorite. With more performances along the lines of what we have been seeing in 2024 so far, he could very soon edge ahead of the Hendrick star in Beau’s list.
