Tyler Reddick’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season was a rollercoaster. After an impressive year, he secured his first Championship 4 appearance along with the regular season championship. However, Reddick’s title hopes ended in heartbreak in the final race at Phoenix. The 23XI driver finished fourth among the title contenders and failed to get a much-deserved championship.
Despite the disappointment, Reddick’s season was nothing short of remarkable. With three wins under his belt, he tied his career-high in wins. He also set the personal best with 12 top-five, 21 top-ten finishes, and more than 570 laps led. He clinched his championship 4 spot with a dramatic double-overtake last-lap victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The No.45 Toyota driver surged past both Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney to secure a stunning victory.
While the heartbreak at Phoenix may linger, Reddick remains focused on what truly matters. In a recent interview, the 28-year-old driver revealed key details of his off-season plans. When other drivers look to prepare for the upcoming season at racetrack Reddick has some other important plans.
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Tyler Reddick unveils his off-season plans
Amid the ongoing legal battles outside the track, the 23XI driver seems to have some special plans. In a candid conversation with NASCAR Tyler Reddick discussed his plans for the upcoming season. He also reflected on the way he would like to relax after a grueling 36-race-long season.
“Working on other things outside of racing, catching up on life, honey-dos, whatever you want to call them. Once I get all that stuff in a good place, I feel like I’ll be decompressed and ready to get back just focused on racing,” Reddick told NASCAR on November 22nd.
Earlier, this year Reddick had married his fiancé, Alexa DeLeon. The couple got engaged in 2023 and the two-week Olympic break helped them to plan their marriage. However, since then Reddick has not been able to spend time with his family and he uses this off-season to do so. It’s worth noting that the couple has been dating each other for more than five years. They also have a four-year-old son named Beau.
Apart from personal milestones, Reddick had some important professional accolades in 2024. He notched up his first superspeedway victory at Talladega in April. He clinched the Regular Season Championship by a single point over Kyle Larson, proving his consistency and resilience.
However, in the second half of the season, Reddick had some struggles. In playoffs, he had just three top-ten finishes apart from that win at Homestead. Despite these issues, Reddick remains optimistic for the 2025 season as he said, “From the time I woke up after winning Homestead, I was in a pretty good spot mentally. It felt like a familiar place from the times doing it on the Xfinity side. We just know that we’ve got to hopefully find some more speed when we go back to Phoenix in the spring.”
Reddick’s optimism would have been in jeopardy in the past month, as his seat at 23XI Racing was in the balance not too long ago.
23XI Racing almost lost Tyler Reddick for 2025
While Tyler Reddick had a stellar season, 23XI was in a pit of trouble heading into the offseason. After Michael Jordan’s team, along with Front Row Motorsports, declined to sign the charter deal earlier this year, they proceeded to sue NASCAR. The teams filed an anti-trust lawsuit accusing the sanctioning body of monopolistic practices. However, this initially put them in a pickle.
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In order to race next season, the teams would have to sign the charter deal. However, the deal had a clause that did not allow them to sue NASCAR. This led to the filing of a preliminary injunction to field as chartered teams while suing NASCAR. Initially, Judge Frank Whitney rejected the injunction, which meant 23XI Racing and FRM would have to run as open teams in 2025. This meant no confirmed place in every race, less money from sponsors, and, potentially, drivers leaving. However, after Judge Kenneth Bell replaced him, the injunction was approved and Tyler Reddick had a huge part to play in it.
Jeffery Kessler, representing the plaintiffs, presented this argument to the judge. “We have a potential champion (Tyler Reddick) who would be free to leave and we’d never get him back. This could put these teams out of business. You can’t go to a stock car team and ask them to become a Formula 1 team.” This seemed to move the needle and Reddick’s actions after were the final nail in the coffin for NASCAR.
Reddick filed for a breach of driver contract, which would have allowed him to leave by December 18th if they were to race as an open team. Judge Kenneth Bell said, “Plaintiffs’ loss of their contractual rights with their drivers coupled with the uncertainty over racing as an ‘open’ team is what moves the needle over the line. The ‘present prospect’ of the loss of star drivers constitutes irreparable harm that ‘cannot fully be rectified by the final judgment after trial.’” 23XI Racing also ended up getting approval to add a third charter which will be piloted by Riley Herbst in 2025. Now, with the charter situation behind them, they can focus on building on their solid 2024 run as the NASCAR lawsuit takes its shape.
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While off-track challenges, including legal matters and organizational growth, could pose hurdles, 23XI Racing remains focused on building a competitive legacy. With Reddick at the helm of the No. 45 Toyota and a strong leadership team behind him, the organization is poised to continue climbing the NASCAR ranks.