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Shane van Gisbergen had not survived the Round of 16. The Kiwi speedster left a trailblazing record in 2025, clinching four road course wins. He could not replicate these stunning stats on oval tracks, however. His string of poor finishes eventually shunned him from the title run. Yet SVG’s road course prowess remained intact nonetheless. And despite Tyler Reddick’s pole-winning event, SVG got ahead.

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Unlike SVG’s lost hopes, Tyler Reddick still had a fighting chance at the Charlotte Roval. He had a history of three road course wins, all achieved after the Next-Gen’s car rollout in 2022. And after finishing 0.032 seconds ahead of SVG to earn his second Busch Light Pole Award of 2025, Reddick seemed to be in a good spot. But his 2025 misfortunes caught up with him eventually.

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Tyler Reddick lists the missed goals

2024 and 2025 are two seasons of stark contrast for the No. 45 Toyota team. Last season, Tyler Reddick was on fire, clinching three race trophies and paving a path to the Championship 4 race. This year, he entered a winless slump, missing the trophy by marginal gaps several times. Reddick’s consistency in terms of 6 top fives and 12 top tens pushed him ahead, and he desperately sought his winning form in a last pitch at the Charlotte Roval. Starting from the pole, Reddick radioed his team, “Clock in.” But SVG stole all the passion from the message, snatching the lead from Reddick twice and winning Stage 1. “We wanted to prioritize setting up to win the race,” Reddick lamented after the race, as winning would have advanced Reddick into the Round of 8.

For the rest of the race, Tyler Reddick could not regain the lead and instead kept pushing in the top five and the top ten. Eventually, SVG had to contend with other rivals like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell before winning the race with a 15-second margin. Reddick revealed why his team lost pace for the latter portion: “Just as the race unfolded, our long run was not where it needed to be with the top guys. In stage three there, we just didn’t make the progress that we needed to. We kind of went long, hoping for a caution there and lost a lot of spots…We were trying to set up for a caution late…we were only out by 14, maybe we could have chased points a little bit harder today.”  Reddick finished 10th.

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Tyler Reddick had been dealing with multiple issues off-track. 23XI Racing is at a crucial stage of the NASCAR lawsuit, which could make or break its future. Upon being asked if the legal proceedings affected his run, Reddick answered, “I don’t think so.” He instead highlighted the more technical reasons, like Goodyear’s experimental tire at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “When you look at the three races, we certainly missed the mark as a company at New Hampshire…that was a different tire that we didn’t have before.”

Meanwhile, the dire health condition of Tyler Reddick’s 4-month-old son, Rookie, is a far more concerning issue. Reddick is receiving all the help he needs from people, including his team owner.

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Prioritizing the family crisis over the racetrack

Indeed, the past few weeks have been unsettling for 23XI Racing. Both Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace got eliminated at the Roval, and this cast a darker cloud on their team’s legal future. Yet at the same time, all these issues took a backseat to Reddick’s family crisis. The child remains in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Alexa DeLeon, Reddick’s wife, said that he “has a tumor that’s ‘choking’ the renal vein & renal artery, telling the heart, ‘hey I’m not getting enough blood… pump harder,’ causing the enlarged heart. He will need the entire kidney removed as it is not believed to be functioning any longer. He will undergo open surgery to remove his right kidney. We’re just not sure when.”

Although DeLeon added that Rookie is looking healthier, Tyler Reddick is still worried. Rookie was spending time blowing bubbles, cheerfully interacting with doctors and nurses. He has gained weight and color as well. Yet despite the good signs, Reddick was clear about his priorities at the moment. He said, “For me, this week, the elimination, everything that is happening in the racing world is taking a back seat as it should.”

And Denny Hamlin, co-owner of Reddick’s car, also supports him. He said, “We’ve tried to do everything we could as a company to tap into all the resources that we possibly can, to get him second, third opinions, all the things, get him in contact with specialists. We feel not a relief, but it is a little relief that they kind of understand now what the path is forward, versus, kind of not knowing. I could not imagine being in their places. He’s got enough to think about.”

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Clearly, Tyler Reddick already has a lot on his plate besides the Round of 12 elimination. Here’s to hoping that things are brighter for him and his family in the future!

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