In his post-race interview, Reddick finally opened up about the family’s private struggle, providing the first significant update on his son’s condition since the ordeal began. Reddick’s son, Rookie, was forced to undergo surgery because of a tumor, putting considerable strain on him and his family. However, it seems this difficult chapter for the family has finally come to a close, as Reddick revealed some positive news about his son’s condition after his Daytona 500 triumph.

Tyler Reddick shares positive update about son’s health

The final few races of the 2025 season were a complete nightmare for Tyler Reddick. Since October, his newborn son has been battling a serious condition while undergoing complex procedures and operations to treat his ailment. The surgery conducted at the Levine Children’s Hospital was a success. Rookie made it through and is healthy again.

“He’s here,” said Reddick, speaking in the post-race press conference at Daytona International Speedway. “Yeah, he did great. I mean, he came home around Martinsville weekend last year. He’s just been doing really good ever since he came home. I mean, he was doing well in the hospital, too. But, yeah, it was really cool.”

Reddick goes on to reveal that his son has already started mingling with other kids who are his age. The entire family took a vacation to recover from the scary episode they had in October. During the vacation, Rookie was able to make them smile with a pleasant surprise.

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“We got to take a three-day vacation and do a little Disney cruise at Canaveral before coming up here on Monday. And it was awesome. He started to, he’s always been kind of crawling, but he started to figure it out on the cruise ship, which was fun. Then basically ever since we’ve been here in the bus here at the track on Monday, he’s been like a speedster crawling fast,” Reddick went on to say.

“So he’s seen some of the other kids, some of Briscoe’s kids, and some of the other little ones running around the playground that are probably way less than Rookie. He’s a big kid for his age.”

For Tyler Reddick and his family, it is nothing short of a milestone that Rookie has come so far. In October last year, his son was diagnosed with a tumor in his chest that was affecting his heart. As a result, it was also choking his renal vein and artery, forcing doctors to remove his right kidney when Rookie was just 4 months old. Fast forward to the present day, and the boy has made speedy recovery.

“Walking, he wants to already do that, too,” Reddick said. “So a fun little milestone happened while we were here. He started really crawling fast, and we have to keep up with that. Keep him away from the stairs and the bus.”

For Tyler Reddick, the Daytona 500 victory was more than redemption.

Pain, grit, and a much-needed comeback for Tyler Reddick

After joining 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick quickly became their number one driver. Without looking back at the mediocre results he had at Richard Childress Racing, Reddick was paving the way for a championship with his new team. In his first season with 23XI Racing, Reddick claimed his best finish in the Cup Series and led them to the playoffs.

In 2024, he was the star of the garage with his performance in the playoffs, Round of 8. Tyler Reddick’s victory at Homestead earned him enough points to advance to the Championship 4 Race. Although Reddick could not bring home the title, it gave much-needed exposure to 23XI, which was racing for the Bill France Cup for the very first time.

However, his heroics in the first two seasons were quickly overshadowed last year. He was winless throughout 2025 and had to fight in the playoffs with regular-season points alone. Although he was able to finish ninth in the drivers’ championship, Reddick couldn’t show his talent as often as he would’ve liked. In NASCAR, a winless season is seen as a curse, and Reddick was no exception.

Nevertheless, it has all come to an end with a fiery victory at the 2026 Daytona 500. Now, Reddick is the only driver in NASCAR history to win the February race at Daytona International Speedway in all three national series. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also one of only four drivers (including Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Bill Elliott) to win his first nine Cup Series races at nine different tracks. Talk about versatility, right?