Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing might as well be the most hydrated team on the field, considering all the beverage-based sponsorships they have managed to pull in the past years. This includes Kurt Busch’s iconic Monster Energy deal, which only recently ended. And now, in a move that no one saw coming, they recently announced the massive return of a historic sponsor, which has been missing from the sport for over a decade now.

Michael Jordan’s #45 team earns a new sponsor after Monster’s departure

Rockstar Energy, which last sponsored a NASCAR driver in 2014, recently announced its limited partnership with the 2026 Daytona 500 winner, Tyler Reddick. The partnership will be visible in the upcoming races, including the Jack Link’s 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway.

The brand had earlier teased this in a social media post, where a close-up of Reddick’s hands opening a Rockstar Energy can could be seen. He was also wearing the Daytona 500 champion ring, which gave it away to many.

This is the first time the #45 will be sponsored by another energy drink since Monster Energy quit its full-time deal. The brand primarily sponsored Kurt Busch, but when he retired, they slowly pulled away from the team.

Considering the team’s other sponsors, this is a very impressive deal from Michael Jordan. Riley Herbst’s #54 car is already sponsored by Monster Energy, and Coca-Cola has been sponsoring the #23 of Bubba Wallace. The latter is even more interesting, considering PepsiCo’s $3.85 billion-worth acquisition of Rockstar Energy in 2020. Despite the possible chances of a conflict of interest within the brands, there seems to be no internal tensions within the team.

At the end of the day, Michael Jordan is known to make some of the most excellent deals for the teams. While he might not have direct involvement in 23XI’s commercial side, his influence on the team is enough.

This partnership with Tyler Reddick is quite understandable. He has already managed to win four races this season, including the three consecutive wins right at the start of the season, making history in the sport. He is one of the strongest contenders for the Cup title right now, considering the Chase format, which has been reinstated for the season, and it would only make sense for the brand to capture the maximum positive publicity.

However, Rockstar Energy is still not returning with a full-time sponsorship. This is something that they did back in 2014, and haven’t repeated since. In fact, many argue that this essentially ended a promising driver’s career.

When Rockstar Energy last sponsored a driver full-time

Back in 2014, Dylan Kwasniewski was one of the emerging drivers in the sport. Building up to his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (then called the Xfinity Series) debut, he had already managed to pull in quite a few impressive results. This included both the ARCA Menards East and West Series championships (then called the K&N Pro Series). Interestingly enough, he continues to be the only driver to have won both championships.

He made his Xfinity debut with Turner Scott Motorsports, running a full-time season for the team, backed by Rockstar Energy. He clinched a few top 10 finishes in his debut season and was usually battling in the midfield. Although he wasn’t as dominant as some of the other drivers in the series at the time, he was still promising.

However, that turned out to be his final full-time NASCAR run. After the end of the season, he and Rockstar Energy failed to reach an agreement, and the brand ended its partnership with Kwasniewski. As a result, he did not acquire a full-time seat and ran a few races for Obaika Racing, putting a passive end to his NASCAR career.

While he has never returned to the sport since, Rockstar Energy has now done that with Tyler Reddick. While the exact details of their partnership have not been revealed, this is still a massive return for the brand as Michael Jordan’s operation seems to be taking the lead for the championship this season.