Most NASCAR Cup Series teams need a few seasons to become consistently competitive, much less championship contenders.
Apparently 23XI Racing missed the memo.
As the team enters its fifth season of Cup Series competition in 2025, it will do so with its first Championship 4 appearance under its belt. In his second season with 23XI, Tyler Reddick took the No. 45 team to the Championship 4 with a thrilling victory in Miami.
Now, Reddick faces the most difficult task of his NASCAR career: taking 23XI back to the championship stage.
The inherent randomness of both racing and NASCAR’s current playoff format will hinder Reddick’s chances of making another Championship 4 appearance, but he and the No. 45 team proved the playoff lights weren’t too bright in 2024.
Reddick’s marked improvement as a driver and his development into a true perennial contender have to excite 23XI, which is still in its relative infancy as a race team.
It’s the aforementioned marked improvement that should see Reddick set his sights on going one step further and claiming the Cup Series championship in 2025. Reddick enters his sixth Cup Series season as a certified contender, rather than a driver on the cusp of breaking through.
While a war in the courtroom is where 23XI has found the bulk of its publicity in recent months, its legal battles shouldn’t have much of an effect on Reddick’s battles on the track. Don’t be surprised if the No. 45 team keeps the momentum from the end of 2024 rolling and comes out of the gates with fast cars.
Reddick will, of course, be chasing a coveted Daytona 500 victory on Feb. 16, but superspeedway racing has never been too kind to the Corning, Calif., native. However, the early portion of the schedule provides Reddick with some excellent opportunities to get back to victory lane and lock up a playoff spot.
The Cup Series field will visit COTA on March 2, which was the sight of Reddick’s first win for 23XI in 2023. The rest of March also shapes up quite favorably for Reddick, and includes trips to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami, the sight of his most recent win.
If Reddick can find three or four victories and a fair share of stage wins in the regular season, he should have plenty of playoff points when the postseason rolls around. A second consecutive regular-season championship wouldn’t hurt, either.
If Reddick makes it back to Phoenix with a chance to win his first championship, 23XI will find itself much more prepared to try and earn its first title as an organization.
