Tyler Reddick’s 2025 campaign couldn’t have been further from the driver he was just one year ago. And the fallout has been impossible to ignore. In 2024, Reddick looked like a star on the rise, a regular-season champion, with two wins at Talladega and Michigan and a berth in the Championship 4 with one of the best average finishes of his career. But that didn’t last long. Fast forward to this season, and the No. 45 team never came close to that form.

Reddick went winless for the first time in the Next-Gen era, struggled to put together complete races, and finished the year with numbers nowhere near the 2024 peak. Moreover, 23XI Racing invested in upgraded operations and the Xfinity Speed Center earlier in the year, which NASCAR coverage framed as a meaningful step to professionalize their race day operations. Yet despite these upgrades, Reddick entered a slump. And now that the season is in the books, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has flat-out called out the 29-year-old’s run.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sounds confused over Reddick’s 2025 campaign

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, the NASCAR Hall of Famer didn’t sugarcoat it. He said, “23XI as a whole, I mean, Bubba did step up. Yeah. But I think 23XI as a whole, they’re looking at themselves, and I would too. They look at each year like, ‘Man, we want to make a chunk, a big gain. Let’s make a gain, gain, gain, year over year’  And it just, to your point, it just didn’t happen for Reddick. And I don’t know what that’s all about.” 

Tyler Reddick wrapped up the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season with a rough day at Phoenix, finishing 26th after what had been a pretty solid playoff stretch. Even though he bowed out in the Round of 12, he had shown steady form over the final 10 races. Across the year, Reddick put up seven top fives, 14 top tens, and wound up ninth in the overall standings. Still, it wasn’t the kind of season he or 23XI Racing was hoping for.

And the comparison was a tough one to call. Reddick may have edged Wallace in certain statistical categories, but his teammate, Bubba Wallace, delivered the moment that mattered. Making history as the first Black driver to win a crown jewel race, Wallace was riding high, while the California native didn’t reach Victory Lane at all.

The No. 23 driver was also just one corner away from snagging another win that would’ve carried him into the Round of 8. Still, despite Wallace’s huge Brickyard 400 drive at Indianapolis Speedway, Reddick stayed right with him all season and even topped him in a few spots.  They finished the year tied in the top 10s, with the the No. 45 driver holding a slight edge in the top five.

Wallace led over 200 more laps, and the 29-year-old driver countered with two pole positions. When you stack everything up, it’s the closest these two have ever been as teammates, but Reddick keeps the slightest of advantages, just barely. The No. 45 car just never quite found the speed, and that lack of pace showed.

And maybe it’s the pressure of the 23XI Racing lawsuit, the uncertainty of his seat because of it, and on top of that, a personal matter that could have possibly derailed his run. Reddick’s four-month-old son has been battling a serious health issue. Doctors discovered a tumor that led his heart to work harder than it should. After the doctors performed surgery to remove it, Reddick says his son’s prognosis “looks promising” now. All of this added to the devastating run he has had, and now hopefully the postseason will prove beneficial for the 29-year-old driver.

It can be said with certainty that he’ll be looking to hit reset in 2026. But the team also has to navigate the upcoming December lawsuit with NASCAR before it can fully turn the page.

23XI Racing and Co. work on jury forms ahead of December trial

With less than two weeks to go before the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR antitrust trial begins, both sides are still grinding through the finer details of trial prep. On Tuesday, that meant trading revisions back-and-forth on proposed duty instructions and the verdict questionnaire. The case will be heard by a panel of nine jurors over roughly 2 weeks and 10 days. When it wraps, they will decide whether NASCAR violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Judge Kenneth D. Bell will also retain the authority to set aside the jury’s decision if he believes the law wasn’t applied correctly, a standard legal mechanism known as a judgment as a matter of law. As part of the run-up to the trial, both sides must collaborate on shaping the jury questionnaire and verdict form. Each party can raise objections, the opposing side is encouraged to find middle ground, and the judge may ultimately make the final call or even rewrite portions himself.

Still, the process is built around good faith cooperation. As noted in the filings: “The parties reserve their rights to amend these proposed instructions or propose additional instructions on the basis of, among other reasons, further exchanges, the parties’ meet and confers, further orders or clarifications by the court and the evidence admitted at trial.” And now, as Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick’s future hangs in the balance, all eyes will be on the upcoming trial, especially the two drivers