Tyler Reddick at 23XI in… 2024!

À peine dix jours après avoir signé sa première victoire en carrière à Road America le 03 juillet dernier, Tyler Reddick se trouve à nouveau sous le feu des projecteurs, certainement bien malgré lui. Invité surprise d’une téléconférence de presse de Toyota Racing Development, Denny Hamlin, copropriétaire de l’écurie 23Xl avec Michael Jordan, a lâché cette petite bombe. La signature intervient en effet 19 mois avant le début de la saison 2024 mais Hamlin ne semblait voir aucune raison d’attendre pour signer un pilote du calibre de Tyler Reddick.

Reddick currently drives the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, which has chosen to exercise its option for the 2023 season on the two-time 2018 and 2019 Xfinity Series champion. It is not yet known at this point what decision Childress will make Racing for the next season, but the team was quick to react on social networks, judging that this announcement could not come at the worst time: “We are proud of the successes that Tyler Reddick has built with Richard Childress Racing. We are focused on the objective of winning the 2022 and 2023 championships, so the timing of this announcement could not be worse. »

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— RCR (@RCRracing) July 12, 2022

While Steve Lauletta, President of 23XI Racing, confirmed the signing of a multi-year agreement with Reddick, Hamlin was full of praise for the 26-year-old Californian: “I followed him, I ran against him, I wanted him and I got him.” , Hamlin said. “Honestly, there are no hidden secrets here. We do not yet know the identity of his sponsor and we do not know which car he will drive. All we know is that we wanted it. There was an opportunity to get Tyler back, and we took it. » 

A resident of Richard Childress Racing since 2018, Reddick will not only leave the team that gave him two Xfinity Series championship titles and his first Cup Series victory, but will also move from Chevrolet to Toyota. How then can we envisage a transparent collaboration for the 17 races remaining this season while, thanks to his victory at Road America, Reddick has secured a place in the Playoffs and is in the running for the supreme title? And what about the 2023 championship…

Tyler Reddick remains contractually RCR driver until the end of the 2023 season © Logan Riely/Getty Images

Reddick was forced to react quickly, issuing a very vague statement: “I feel like it's just the way my mind works. I always think about the future " , Reddick said. “It’s important to always think about everything, both short and long term. » Unfortunately, we will not know more about his motivations.

The question of the 23Xl Racing line-up in 2024 remains unanswered. Bubba Wallace seems immovable and the technical contribution of Kurt Busch to the team is undeniable. Furthermore, the eldest of the Busch siblings does not seem to have decided to hang up his helmet, but between now and 2024, a lot of things can change and Hamlin hastened to open the doors for him to a great reconversion within the team: “TAs long as Kurt wants to be a racing driver, we want to have him."Hamlin said. “Once he finishes driving he will have a nice comfortable office job at 23XI. It will therefore be part of our future well beyond its last laps”. It remains that at the time when the Nascar struggling to fill its starting grids, there is no doubt that the ambitious team, with increased support from Toyota, could obtain a third charter, a year-round commitment, guaranteed to compete in all of the rounds including the lucrative 500 Miles of Daytona. One thing is certain in the end, Tyler Reddick will drive a 23Xl Racing Toyota in 2024.

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