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Michael Jordan’s $150 Million NASCAR Team Torn to Shreds by NASCAR Insider & Angered Racing Community

Published 08/07/2023, 4:01 PM EDT

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The pit road debacle continued on the track of Michigan International Raceway for Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing team. The rain played spoilsport on Sunday and forced the race to be postponed to Monday. Nevertheless, the race was able to continue on the 2-mile D-shaped track as the sun made its way through the dark clouds and signaled for the race to begin. Furthermore, it was 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick who began as the race leader, before being pushed behind the pack during the caution.

23XI Racing, although still in its formative years, has surely exhibited enough prowess and caliber as an above-average team in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team also notched its first victory of the season after Tyler Reddick drove up his car to the victory lane on the track of Circuit of The Americas. However, it cannot be denied that the team has faced numerous pit road hiccups, and Monday’s race was no exception.

A frustrated Tyler Reddick shouts his displeasure on his radio

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On Monday, spectators witnessed another display of underperformance by the 23XI Racing’s crew, and this time, the victim was Tyler Reddick. To call him frustrated would be an understatement as a majority of his tirade against the crew on the radio had to be beeped by the broadcasters.

At the beginning of the 2023 Cup Series season, 23XI Racing claimed that it would build its own pit crew team and stop borrowing members from Joe Gibbs Racing. The team had been optimistic that it would provide impetus to the team building effort and make positive changes in the delivering the performance by the drivers. However, it seems that the effort has fallen flat on its face, as the team struggles to deal with its Achilles Heel.

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This was apparent on the track of Michigan also, when Tyler Reddick’s pit crew failed to execute its strategy, once again that cost the driver his precious position on the track. The incident occurred when Reddick arrived on the pit road for a four tires stop and also for fuel. Redick had to wait more than 9 seconds before the gas man could fill up the tank. Moreover, the jack of the car came down early while the rear changer dealt with an issue. This almost resulted in Reddick being wrecked on the track.

Out of frustration, Reddick was heard saying on the radio, “Are we good? Finishing the f**king pit stop.”

This was surely not the first time that the 23XI Racing drivers faced such an issue. It happened for the umpteenth time during the NASCAR Cup race in Richmond, where Bubba Wallace’s tire changer struggled with the jack that got stuck on the car. Moreover, the crew chief of Reddick was suspended in Darlington, after the car failed the inspection.

Even Jeff Gluck posted on Twitter, “Understandable frustration. How many races has the 45 team given away this year as a group?

Disappointed NASCAR fans hurl their criticism at Tyler Reddick’s pit crew

Owing to this fact, the livid fans also sided with the driver and showed their disappointment with the crew members. They wrote on Twitter, “Both pitcrews for them has messed up races, they did the same thing last week as well.”

“23xi is really good at blowing races on pit road they’ve done it attest 7 times this year..”

“The 45 and 23! Honestly how many possible lost on pit road. Hate saying it’s the pits but still.”

Others also wrote, “Shades of the 11 crew last year and this year. Never really hear Reddick that frustrated, but it’s totally warranted.”

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“23XI as a whole can’t seem to have one clean race on pit road. It’s either the 45 or 23 every week.”

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This incident again reinforces the fact that the team has still a long way to in order to deliver a clean race without any major hiccups in executing its strategies and provide impetus in notching more victories in the races.

Read More: Denny Hamlin’s Toxic Love Affair With Pit Road Has NASCAR Fandom Going Berserk

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Written by:

Ayantika Maitra

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Ayantika Maitra is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. It was initially Formula 1 that made her fall in love with the world of motorsports. But quickly, the raw and unfiltered nature of NASCAR is what led her to build an affinity for the Stock Car Racing Series.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal