Tyler Reddick on new team, working for Denny Hamlin, wedding plans and more

Tyler Reddick sits 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings in his first season at 23XI Racing after three years driving Cup at Richard Childress Racing.

The winner of back-to-back Xfinity Series titles (for different teams), Reddick has his racing roots in dirt late-model racing. 

We recently caught up with Reddick to talk about the transition to a new team and crew chief Billy Scott, seeing his old team win three races already this year with Kyle Busch and his upcoming wedding.

This conversation has been edited for space and clarity.

You’re a few months into 23XI; what’s been the biggest thing that you didn’t know about 23XI In February that you know now?

It’s a good question, honestly. I love spending a lot of time in the simulator, but there’s been weeks where not necessarily things have gone as well as I’d hoped in the simulator, or I haven’t been able to spend the most amount of time as I would like to in the simulator for myself [as I did] in year’s past to feel good about going to a particular race track. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the lack of some time that we would like to have that we don’t get, how well our car is without it. I don’t want to get myself into bad ideas of not being in the simulator because it really does help me a lot with road courses, but Billy and the guys just do a really, really good job. It’s something that internally we’ve talked about is like I honestly feel like on our really bad days, we’re still capable of running 15th. 

That’s a good thing when you can cut down the extremities, like that when a bad day used to be 25th-30th, I feel like realistically now a bad day for us at the moment is fighting for 15th. So that’s a good place to be in the scale of looking ahead to the playoffs and how important it is to run consistently in that top 15 to survive, especially the first round — which I unfortunately have had problems with in years past.

What is Denny Hamlin like as a boss? If you consider him a boss? 

He is a boss for sure. It’s great to have someone like that in that role that owns the team, someone you raced against that me and Bubba [Wallace] can also lean on, having not just him but having a driver like Kurt Busch be involved in helping us along the way, too. We’ve got a lot of really great people in great positions. 

Having Mike Wheeler, Dave Rogers back at the shop to kind of run the ship and have everything in place for Billy and [Wallace crew chief] Bootie [Baker] to go attack it throughout the week and preparing the cars and at the race track. Just a lot of really smart people at 23XI, so it starts at Denny and goes all the way down. It’s a great group. 

Just how different is it to go from maybe a team that’s been around for 50-60 years to a team that’s been around for less than three years and probably is looking at it from just a whole different lens?

It is really, really interesting, the differences. RCR has been forward-looking with certain things they’ve been implementing. Andy Petree is sharp. There’s good people over there getting them back on a path where they need to be and the reason they won last year and obviously with a driver like Kyle stepping into there, they’re going to be contending for race wins as well. So that stuff doesn’t just fall in your lap. It comes from hard work. And I feel like the things that 23XI is doing is certainly different from anywhere I’ve ever been — their process, their approach, the people they have getting us to those places. I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s certainly different, but it’s a process I really believe in.

Is it weird to see the 8 car win three races already?

No, no, no, no. There were so many races we gave away last year, honestly — the car had a lot of speed, the team a lot of speed and it’s rolled into this year. So seeing them win three races doesn’t surprise me. I certainly feel like on our side, too, the speed is there to have won that many races. I don’t know why I made it a competition just now because it really shouldn’t be — it’s about us and ourselves. But I am happy for that group. I spent years of my life with the people that are on that team. I’m still good friends with a lot of people on that team. It’s always great to see your friends do well when you can’t necessarily capitalize and have the best day yourself.

You’ve got a bunch of road courses coming up in the next couple of months?

Thankfully

Do you feel like you are one of the guys to beat on road courses now considering what you’ve done in the last year? 

I don’t know why you have got to put it that way.

How would you put it?

Maybe more worded like, ‘Is it a great feeling to have a shot at winning?’ I don’t like being like, ‘Oh, you’re the guy to beat.’ It’s not that way. The Next Gen car has really leveled the playing field. I’m sure we’ll continue to see it. Obviously, everyone is aware of how good we were. And I know people are working overtime on trying to figure out how to get closer. But that’s where we’ve got to stay hungry and keep looking at ways and looking at details where we can make it better.

 I’m really excited about what’s ahead for us because also with the stage racing being different this year with no cautions at the breaks — the qualifying aspect of it, really maximizing the strategy you choose to go with throughout the event is super important. You’ve got to nail practice, you’ve got to get a read on your car, you’ve got to get comfortable with your car. 

Have you had any cool [co-owner] Michael Jordan moments since you’ve been there?

Any time you get to talk Michael is really cool. Any time you get a text from the boss checking in on you, wishing you luck, patting you on the back, or whatever it might be, it’s always really great. He’s definitely locked in, paying attention. It’s great having him at the race track. I know it probably is a headache for him to try and get in and out without being bugged. He just wants to be there for the race team and be a part of the team.

Do you have to pay more attention to the Hornets now?

I grew up out here [in North California], and I went to one or two [Sacramento] Kings games when I was a kid. But I really kind of detached from a lot of sports when I was racing dirt. We’re traveling up and down the road and most of the times that you would have those big games on at night, we’re at a dirt track in the middle of nowhere racing and not being able to follow it. As time has gone on, and as I’ve had more nights throughout the week to be able to watch sports — I don’t really have a hockey team necessarily, but my football team is Denver and it’s really far away from where I live. I liked the Kings growing up, but I was going to give the Hornets a chance well before I was going to be going to 23XI or any of that stuff. 

Do you miss dirt late-model racing?

Extremely. Not just dirt late-model racing, but dirt racing in general. Yes, I do miss it a lot.

Why? What do you miss about it?

Just racing that much, honestly. It was a real culture shock for me going from racing dirt 70-80 times a year to running 15 truck races the next year and not having really nothing else planned that first part-time year at BKR. It was wildly different for me. You’re putting so much more into those races — which is fine, but when things don’t go right, it will ruin your week if you let it. When you’re running a dirt car, you just have to forget about it and move on. … You have to have a very quick, forgetful memory because you know you’re on to the next one the next day. I do miss that part of it. Hopefully one day I’m back doing some more of that stuff.

You’re engaged. How involved are you in the wedding planning? Have you asked for lists to be narrowed down before you help decide?

We have help, which is nice. We know where we’re going to have it; we have a number of details figured out but getting the guest list out and all those things is a process right? She is the one with a lot of the ideas, narrow them down and then we kind of settle on what direction we want to go. There’s a lot going on.

So you’re involved?

Not super involved.

What To Watch For

Watch social media for drivers who are willing to share their off-weekend escapades.

Thinking Out Loud

Did NASCAR really have to throw the caution for the wheel in the middle of pit road at Sonoma? Sonoma is a rare pit road, as it is almost entirely closed off from the track and the entry is far enough away that NASCAR could see if any driver is about to pit.

NASCAR had one other option than to throw the caution — it could have closed pit road and sent a safety truck down pit road to get the tire. 

But just because NASCAR closes pit road doesn’t mean a driver isn’t going to come down it. And if it is under green, a driver who needs to pit could lose several spots if the driver can’t initially get to pit road. Is it worth putting a safety worker in danger? 

Plus, does it make sense to alter the rules and do that when it really can’t be done at any other track?

For the sake of consistency, it was probably best that NASCAR threw the caution so it could then close pit road (as is its procedure) and safely get the tire.

Reader Mailbag

Do you have a question? Respond to this Twitter post with it!

This week, we answered two questions from Bob’s timeline:

From Randy: Is NASCAR actually allowing the teams to perform the chassis safety changes themselves?

Yes. In order for the safety changes to be implemented by the July 9 race at Atlanta, teams will be allowed to cut the frame rails as instructed by NASCAR. It isn’t the best option when it comes to making sure nothing is tampered with that isn’t supposed to be, but it’s the best option as far as timing to get the updates completed. I’ve got to think NASCAR will be checking the cars closely the rest of the year to make sure teams don’t change anything they’re not supposed to change.

From Matt: What’s your favorite racetrack to go to, Bob?

I moved to Indianapolis when I was 10 and that was the track where I did my first motorsports reporting, so I would say Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more for sentimental reasons than anything else. But it has to be on the oval to get my juices really flowing.

Social Spotlight

They Said It

“We don’t like racing against Kyle. I think he’s going to win a bunch. We know it. So we’ve got to work our guts out to try and stay in front of him.”

—Joe Gibbs on Kyle Busch

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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