Most NASCAR Cup Sequence groups want just a few seasons to change into persistently aggressive, a lot much less championship contenders.
Apparently 23XI Racing missed the memo.
Because the workforce enters its fifth season of Cup Sequence competitors in 2025, it is going to achieve this with its first Championship 4 look below its belt. In his second season with 23XI, Tyler Reddick took the No. 45 workforce to the Championship 4 with an exhilarating victory in Miami.
Now, Reddick faces probably the most troublesome activity of his NASCAR profession: taking 23XI again to the championship stage.
The inherent randomness of each racing and NASCAR’s present playoff format will hinder Reddick’s probabilities of making one other Championship 4 look, however he and the No. 45 workforce proved the playoff lights weren’t too shiny in 2024.
Reddick’s marked enchancment as a driver and his growth into a real perennial contender need to excite 23XI, which remains to be in its relative infancy as a race workforce.
It is the aforementioned marked enchancment that ought to see Reddick set his sights on going one step additional and claiming the Cup Sequence championship in 2025. Reddick enters his sixth Cup Sequence season as a licensed contender, slightly than a driver on the cusp of breaking via.
Whereas a battle within the courtroom is the place 23XI has discovered the majority of its publicity in current months, its authorized battles should not have a lot of an impact on Reddick’s battles on the observe. Do not be stunned if the No. 45 workforce retains the momentum from the tip of 2024 rolling and comes out of the gates with quick vehicles.
Reddick will, after all, be chasing a coveted Daytona 500 victory on Feb. 16, however superspeedway racing has by no means been too type to the Corning, Calif., native. Nonetheless, the early portion of the schedule offers Reddick with some glorious alternatives to get again to victory lane and lock up a playoff spot.
The Cup Sequence area will go to COTA on March 2, which was the sight of Reddick’s first win for 23XI in 2023. The remainder of March additionally shapes up fairly favorably for Reddick, and contains journeys to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami, the sight of his most up-to-date win.
If Reddick can discover three or 4 victories and a justifiable share of stage wins within the common season, he ought to have loads of playoff factors when the postseason rolls round. A second consecutive regular-season championship would not harm, both.
If Reddick makes it again to Phoenix with an opportunity to win his first championship, 23XI will discover itself far more ready to try to earn its first title as a company.
