New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Mobil 1 301 was a playoff gut-check for 23XI Racing, and it hit hard. Tyler Reddick fought a loose No. 45 from the drop, skittering up the track in corners as brake woes sapped his confidence. He clawed for stage points but faded into traffic, limping home 21st. Bubba Wallace showed early speed in the No. 23, but as the track rubbered in, the balance went south, leaving him a lap down and watching the leaders battle.

The duo’s mid-pack misery, Wallace 26th, Reddick 21st, raised eyebrows, especially after JGR’s Round of 16 sweep. With 23XI co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, the spotlight’s intense, and HMS legend Steve Letarte didn’t hold back.

Letarte’s wake-up call for 23XI

On NASCAR Inside the Race, Steve Letarte didn’t pull punches on 23XI’s Loudon flop. “Twelve drivers in the playoffs and one has zero wins, Tyler Reddick. He’s a winning driver on a winning team, but the numbers catch up with you,” he said.

Tyler Reddick’s the lone winless playoff driver, with 10 top-10s in 2025 but no trophies. His 2023 wins at COTA and Kansas pushed him deep into the playoffs, but 2025’s consistency without victories has him 11th, 23 points below the cutline. Letarte’s point? In the playoffs, wins bank bonus points that make or break advancement; Reddick’s strong but vulnerable.

Letarte laid it bare, “The 45’s path is simple, go win next week. They had an okay day, missed some things, but I put it on the organization, not the drivers. They didn’t give them cars to compete.” Loudon’s handling woes for Reddick, struggling to crack the top 10 despite solid pits, point to setup gaps.

23XI’s 2022 Darlington meltdown, where Wallace called his car “undriveable,” showed similar organizational hiccups. Letarte’s not blaming drivers but the team’s prep, which left Reddick and Wallace outgunned by JGR’s pace.

He turned to Bubba Wallace, “Bubba said they’ve lost some magic, but if there’s a track where they can shine, it’s Kansas. I feel bad for Bubba; he was so good in the first round, so positive, and now it’s gone. But that’s the playoffs, pressure turns on, and a must-win could be around the corner.”

Wallace’s Round of 16 heroics, top-10s at Darlington and Gateway, had him fourth with a 50-point cushion. But Bristol’s 34th and Loudon’s 26th dropped him to 12th, 27 points below the line. Wallace’s “lost some magic” lament post-Loudon rings true.

Kansas, where he won in 2022, offers hope. Letarte’s empathy for Bubba’s fade ties to the playoffs’ pressure cooker, where one bad weekend flips fortunes, like Bell’s 2022 elimination-race wins.

23XI’s must-win math

Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, didn’t sugarcoat it on Door Bumper Clear, “No, we’ll say, ‘Yeah, we are in must-win.’” Before Loudon, Wallace was fourth with 50 points to spare, Reddick seventh. But the “Magic Mile” crushed them, Reddick 11th (-23), Wallace 12th (-27), after Bristol’s 15th and 34th.

“You’d have to have top two or three stage points every stage and finish second or third to come out of there,” Kraft said of Charlotte’s ROVAL eliminator. “I don’t know if you’d still come out of there above the cut line, but I think you’ve got to approach it like we’re must-win.”

Kansas, where Reddick won in 2023 and Wallace in 2022, is their lifeline. 23XI’s back-to-back fall victories there give them a shot to flip the script. Letarte’s call-out isn’t just a critique; it’s a rally cry for 23XI to match JGR’s polish. With Hamlin co-owning, the pressure’s on to deliver, but Bristol’s teammate clash and Loudon’s fade show the gap.

As 23XI eyes a Kansas rebound, Letarte’s words hang heavy: give the drivers winning cars, or the playoffs will expose the flaws.