The 2025 season was one Tyler Reddick didn’t know if he could ever forget, as things were so bad for him. It was one of frustration, heartache, fear about his racing future and of course the dark cloud that hung over the entire organization from the anti-trust lawsuit vs. NASCAR.

But in Sunday’s 68 running of the Daytona 500, Reddick finally put 2025 in his rearview mirror once and for all – and did so with something he will never forget, doing so in spectacular fashion with the greatest accomplishment of his racing career.

The 30-year-old California native came out of literally nowhere – helped by a big push at the end from 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst – to steal away victory from Chase Elliott in the final quarter-mile of the Daytona International Speedway.

Reddick set a 500 single-race record as he was the 25th race leader, winning by 0.308 seconds over 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. And living up to one of drivers’ favorite sayings about the 500, you only need to lead one lap – the last one – to win the 500, and that’s exactly what Reddick did Sunday.

Looking back at 2025, first there was the frustration of suffering through one of the worst seasons of his career, led by his failure to win even one of the 36 races on the Cup schedule, ending a streak where he had won eight total races over the preceding three seasons.

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Then there was the off-track heartache for Reddick and his wife Alexa, who revealed last fall their then-five-month old baby, Rookie George, had a life-threatening health condition that ultimately led to surgery to remove a large tumor on one of his kidneys, which in turn was causing a serious heart condition as a result. Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and while Rookie is still recovering, he’s getting stronger and better with each passing week.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was Reddick’s fear about his job security. Prior to the start of the trial vs. NASCAR that began in late November, team co-owner Michael Jordan even threatened to close up shop if 23XI and co-complainant Front Row Motorsports wound up losing the suit.

That did not do wonders for Reddick’s confidence. Fortunately for Jordan, the team and Reddick, the trial abruptly ended after just eight days (it was expected to go 3-4 weeks) when NASCAR agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

“Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me,” Reddick said after climbing out of his winning race car Sunday. “When you’re a Cup driver and you get to this level and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s expected you win every single year.

“For us to go on that drought we did made us look hard in the mirror. … We worked really hard in the off-season, and there was many points in this race where we weren’t making decisions we wanted to, but we just reset, and every opportunity we got to reset we went back at it.

“I’m just speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. The best part is my son asked before this race, ‘Are you finally going to win this race?’ Something about today just felt right. It’s going to be a long night (of celebrating). I’ve already lost my voice from screaming. Never thought I’d be Daytona 500 champion.”

It appeared as if Chase Elliott would hang on to the lead in the last lap and earn his first career win in the Great American Race.

But a push by Herbst, who is one of Reddick’s teammates along with Bubba Wallace (led a race-high 40 laps Sunday; finished 10), allowed Reddick to zig and then zag around Elliott, who at that point had become a sitting duck and watched helplessly as Reddick drove by and sailed the last several hundred yards to take the checkered flag.

What Reddick did on Sunday was not revenge or retaliation for everything that went wrong last season. Rather, it was redemption that not only is he still a damn good race car driver, but that 23XI Racing is ready to take things to the next level in its development as an organization.

After Wallace captured 23XI’s unexpected win in last year’s Brickyard 400, the organization has now won half of NASCAR’s four crown jewel races – and there are 35 races now left for Reddick, Wallace, and Herbst to capture the other two milestone events (the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500) and many more wins.

Reddick admitted late last year that he hoped Jordan and Hamlin had not lost faith in him and his potential after such a rough season. But for a guy who is used to winning big trophies and multiple championships during his Hall of Fame NBA career, Jordan, who turns 63 on Tuesday, got one of the best birthday presents he’s ever received on Sunday.

“I can’t even believe it” Jordan said. “It was so gratifying. You never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive.

“We hung in there all day. Great strategy by the team, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Look, I’m ecstatic. I don’t even know what to say. It feels like I won a championship.”

After what Reddick did Sunday, a championship could very well be next in line.