Tyler Reddick to join 23XI Racing in 2023, one year earlier than planned
23XI Racing announced Saturday that Tyler Reddick will drive for the team starting next season,
making a jump on a deal that was originally scheduled to start with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
Richard Childress Racing issued a statement Saturday that confirmed the two sides had reached an agreement, releasing the 26-year-old from his obligation to the No.
8 Chevrolet team for next season. Reddick will drive the No. 45 Toyota for the team of Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin next year.
Reddick will replace Kurt Busch, who has announced that he will not compete for a full-time title with the team next year.
Busch joined the No. 45 team this season as part of 23XI Racing's expansion to a two-car operation, but missed the final
12 Cup Series races after suffering a concussion in a qualifying accident on Saturday. July 23 at Pocono Raceway. .
23XI previously announced in the summer that Reddick would switch allegiance from him to the Toyota-backed team in 2024,
a move that has had a ripple effect in NASCAR's free agency market. At the time, Hamlin did not indicate which car Reddick would drive,
or whether the 23XI would expand to a three-car fleet with Reddick joining Busch and Bubba Wallace as teammates.
"I saw it, I raced it, I wanted it and I got it," Hamlin said at the time, "and I didn't know anything else to go along with it."
Saturday's move bolsters the Cup Series driver roster for both organizations.
Reddick will join Wallace, with Busch open to a possible part-time job in a potential third entry to 23XI.
RCR will go ahead with the return of Austin Dillon and newcomer Kyle Busch, whom Childress lured from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota in a highly successful deal that took place last month.
Reddick enjoyed a standout season amidst all the uncertainties and changing tides.
His first three Cup Series wins (Road America, Indianapolis Road Course, Texas) came this year, his third with Childress' team.
Reddick was eliminated from the Cup Series Playoffs after the first round of 16 game.
Reddick joined RCR in 2019, winning his second Xfinity Series title that year before moving on to the Cup Series the following season.
He won his first Xfinity Series title with JR Motorsports in 2018.
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