He might only have two race wins under his belt so far this season, but Tyler Reddick’s rise to the top of the points table has been nothing but phenomenal. Had it not been for some unfortunate moments, the driver of the #45 car could have had a lot more race wins.
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Reddick has 17 top-10 finishes so far into the season and the closest drivers to him in that regard have four less top-10 finishes. The last time there was such a gap was in 2011 when Carl Edwards had five more top-10 finishes than anyone else across the field.
23XI Racing has grown a lot as a team. Despite only being four years old, they have what it takes to compete with the heavyweights of NASCAR. Team owner Hamlin had laid out a five-year plan to be competitive when the team was founded and that seems to be coming true. Reddick is arguably the face of the team with his consistency which has earned him a lot of praise from his boss.
It's been a standout year for @TylerReddick.
– 11 top-five finishes.
– 17 top-10 finishes.He leads the Cup Series in both categories. pic.twitter.com/cFWyFy85lQ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 19, 2024
“I think it’s keeping a level head,” he said to Speedway Digest. “Feel like I’ve been doing a better job of keeping a level head, reset, what’s our next move going to be, how are we going to pass this car ahead of us in the next one. Just having a better mindset has helped me.”
Following his win at Michigan, Reddick is now 10 points ahead of second-placed Chase Elliott. With just a couple of races left, he has a good chance of winning the first regular-season championship for 23XI Racing.
Hamlin lays down his expectations for the #45 team
Reddick will get a 15 playoff point advantage – equivalent to three race wins – if he gets the regular season title. Even if he does not win it, team owner Hamlin believes that his driver can make it to the round of eight. Reddick, however, would only be looking to get into the championship race and finish before everyone else.
“Certainly the first round of the Playoffs, the guys eliminated are just the ones that have bad races or don’t have any Playoff points. So he’ll be in a good at least position. Certainly, based off of performance, they should get to the final eight, I would think, pretty easily. But this is racing, and all kinds of crazy things can happen,” Hamlin explained in a media interaction.
It had been a frustrating few weeks leading up to the win at the Michigan International Speedway for Reddick. He lost several opportunities to win races. Hence, Monday’s result must have felt like a relief for him.
