Of course, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick have been teammates for around three years now. But that’s on the surface. There’s always something deeper at play when one has five wins in nine races and the other, although historically dominant in his own right, just isn’t matching that same level of performance. When one has long been known as the face of the team but is now watching the driver who joined later firmly put the organization at the center of the Cup Series spotlight.

With dynamics like these come whispers about internal tension. Nothing new there. But Bubba Wallace is stepping in to shut that narrative down once again, before it gains any more traction.

Like much of the garage, Wallace has been watching Reddick’s rise from close range all season. The latest chapter came Sunday at Kansas Speedway, where Reddick charged past Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime to secure his fifth victory in just nine races. The turnaround has been especially striking considering how different things looked a year ago. Outside of the Brickyard 400 result within the organization, Reddick himself went winless in 2025 — a drought Wallace knows firsthand can linger longer than expected in a sport where momentum is difficult to manufacture.

“Incredible to see how we come off last year,” Wallace said. “Obviously, just the Brickyard 400 — not downplaying that at all — but Reddick went winless. Massive win and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Who lit a fire under his a**?’ I think he took going winless to heart. I did it for three years, and it’s just hard. The sport is so hard. I think the conversations that we had with leadership and just getting the preseason meetings kicked off kind of lit a fire in everybody.”

Kansas, meanwhile, offered Wallace his strongest run of the season so far. His fifth-place finish came at a moment when the No. 23 team needed stability after setbacks at Darlington and Martinsville had interrupted earlier rhythm. Rather than framing the gap between himself and the No. 45 as frustration, Wallace pointed instead to how quickly performance swings can shift across a Cup Series schedule.

“It’s not a woe-is-me thing,” Wallace explained. “It is understanding how tough this sport is, and when you’re on it, you’re on it, and we’re close, man. We gave up two races there at Darlington and Martinsville, but we’re getting back into form.”

For a brief stretch late in the race, it even looked like Kansas might provide the kind of breakthrough Wallace had been waiting for. Running just outside the top five in the closing laps, he told his team that once track position improved, the fight for the win could open up quickly. Instead, it was Reddick who surged forward when the overtime restart reshuffled the order.

“I told my team Sunday, ‘If we can break through — we were running eighth or ninth — if we can break through and get into the top five, it’s gonna be game on,’” Wallace recalled. “We get into the top five and the 45 passed me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, never mind. Maybe next week.’”

That late charge didn’t just secure another victory. It placed Reddick alongside Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers in the modern era to win five of the first nine races in a season, a benchmark that underscores how quickly the No. 45 team has shifted the competitive balance inside 23XI Racing this year.

And yet, even within that stretch of dominance, Wallace’s position inside the standings tells a different story than the headline contrast might suggest. Sitting eighth in points with multiple top-10 finishes already on the board, his season has leaned more toward consistency than volatility, the kind of foundation that often keeps teams within striking distance once the calendar moves deeper into the summer portion of the schedule.

That perspective also shapes how Wallace has approached the comparison narrative surrounding his teammate’s surge. He has watched those swings before, including from the opposite side last July, when his own Brickyard 400 victory arrived during a stretch when Reddick was still searching for answers. The roles, in other words, have shifted before. And inside the organization, they are expected to shift again.

23XI’s execution revolution

“Our pit crews have taken a big step forward. Everybody worked really hard in the off-season to refine our processes and our communication. We’re only 9 races into our six seasons, so still a lot of work to be done.”

That was Steve Lauletta laying out the blueprint behind 23XI Racing’s remarkable rise in 2026. And if there’s one word that defines their transformation, it’s execution.

Lauletta claims that speed was never a problem. Putting everything together (pit stops, strategy calls, communication, and race-day adjustments) was the missing component in prior seasons. That gap seems to have been closed this year. The outcome? A team that is not just quick but also consistently sharp over the whole race weekend.

The results demonstrate that cohesiveness, particularly with regard to Tyler Reddick’s adaptability. His victories have come from a variety of tracks rather than just one. From superspeedways to mile-and-a-half intermediates to road courses, Reddick has proven that this isn’t a situational advantage.

It’s a complete package. Even at traditionally tricky venues like Bristol and Phoenix, he’s delivered solid finishes, including a top five and a top ten. Lauletta’s confidence is validated by such a consistent performance. In addition to developing quick cars, 23XI also develops versatile vehicles that can compete wherever the schedule takes them.

And perhaps most importantly, the mindset hasn’t shifted despite the early success. Week after week, the emphasis is still on upholding that execution level. If 2026 has demonstrated anything thus far, it is that 23XI Racing becomes one of the hardest teams to defeat in the garage, when all departments work together.