LAS VEGAS, Nev.: With Saturday’s announcement of Kurt Busch stepping away from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition, Tyler Reddick will arrive at the 23XI Racing organization a year earlier than anticipated.
Reddick will take the reins of the No. 45 Toyota Camry next season previously driven by Busch and substitute driver Ty Gibbs. The team will at least remain a two-car full-time organization next season with Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. remaining the team’s mainstay driver.
“The circumstances resulting in the seat being available are very unfortunate, but I am really excited to start my journey with 23XI Racing one year early,” Reddick tweeted after Busch’s announcement.
When asked if Saturday’s announcement was a happy day for him after Busch’s announcement, Reddick responded, “Well, yeah, it is for sure. Yeah of course. It is great that it is out there and you know that it’s known, hey this is the direction – this is where we’re going. I am definitely excited about it.”
“Me and him have gotten to talk a few times just about things and I hate that he’s in this spot but hats off to him for putting himself first and prioritizing his health. You only get one body and you have to take care of it. I’m really excited to be able to work with him going forward, Toyota and 23XI Racing as well.”
Reddick had remained under contract with Richard Childress Racing for next season but as Motorsports journalist Lee Spencer tweeted earlier this week an agreement had been reached for 23XI Racing to buyout the agreement from RCR to allow the move to transpire early.
Childress said last month when it was announced that Kyle Busch would take over the reins of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE next season that they would field a third entry for Reddick but details were not immediate available.
With Busch still not medically cleared to compete, anticipation and chatter increased that Busch likely wouldn’t be back, at least full-time next season paving the way for a perfect solution for RCR and 23XI Racing.
“Richard Childress Racing has agreed to release Tyler Reddick to drive for 23XI in 2023,” the organization said in a statement.
“With Kyle Busch coming to RCR next year, we believe it is in our mutual best interest to focus on building successful programs for the future.
“RCR and Tyler have enjoyed a great deal of success together, and everyone at RCR wishes him well.”
Reddick, 26, joined RCR in 2019 and defended his Xfinity Series championship title for the second consecutive years and with two different teams. He graduated to Cup during the historic 2020 season as a teammate to Austin Dillon.
After improving in each of his Cup seasons with the Welcome, N.C.-based team, Reddick has enjoyed an explosive breakout season in 2022 and enters Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway with three wins.
He qualified for the Cup Series Playoffs for the fist time in his career, but a frustrating first round with back-to-back finishes of 35th at Kansas Speedway and 25th Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway eliminated him from Playoff contention last month.
“It’s been a journey,” talking of his opportunity with RCR. “You know when came together and Richard (Childress) wanted me to come drive the No. 2 car. We both felt like that RCR had really good Xfinity equipment and it was a just a matter of getting all the right people together and going out and making a championship run.
“We had a really great year, won a lot of races, checked a lot of boxes off that you want in a year. For me, I didn’t know where things were going to go I guess right away but ended up going Cup racing and from there the first year was a lot of learning for me in how to be a Cup driver.
“From there, there’s a lot of work that went into behind the scenes and everything to put RCR back in the direction they wanted to go. There was a lot of fun doing that and for me it was very rewarding.”
Reddick was also grateful for doors that RCR opened for him.
“When I had the opportunity to drive for Big Machine and go to Texas and get that team their first win – those type of things are very rewarding for me.”
In a surprise announcement over the summer, 23XI Racing announced that Reddick would shift his allegiances to the Toyota-backed team in 2024, a move that had at the time rattled the NASCAR free agency market.
During the announcement, Hamlin did not indicate which car Reddick would drive, or whether 23XI would expand to a three-car fleet with Reddick joining Busch and Bubba Wallace as teammates.
“I watched him, I raced against him, I wanted him and I got him,” Hamlin said then, “and I didn’t know anything else that goes along with that.”
Fast forward less than four months later, 23XI Racing said in a statement Saturday, “We look forward to competing against Tyler over the remaining four weeks of the season and look forward to having him join our team thereafter.”
Reddick responded, “23XI Racing has already had a great amount of success in the short time they have been here. That new challenge that lies ahead and building and going the direction the company wants to go in together is going to be exciting.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
