Around this time last year, the situation was calm with 10 laps remaining in the Charlotte Roval race. Kyle Larson won that race, and the Round of 8 seemed set. However, around 2 hours later, chaos unfolded as Alex Bowman bowed out due to a post-race technical inspection failure. Then, Joey Logano, who was eliminated, was pulled back in. NASCAR insiders are expecting another chaotic Roval outcome this time as well, involving Tyler Reddick.

Over the 2025 season, the 23XI Racing driver has clinched 11 top tens and 6 top fives. In contrast to his 3-win 2024 season, which resulted in a Championship 4 appearance, Tyler Reddick has been winless so far this season. Hence, he may be gritting his teeth at present, but his team owner may get in his way.

Will the Kansas chaos catch up with Tyler Reddick?

Unlike 2024, the chaos happened even before Charlotte Roval’s turn came up. During the Hollywood Casino 400 race, Denny Hamlin swept both stages and led for 159 laps. In his drive to win, he initiated contact with Bubba Wallace’s car. The 23XI Racing driver was leading the race, and his No. 23 Toyota got into a door-to-door battle with Hamlin’s No. 11. As a result, both drivers’ pace slowed down, and Chase Elliott won. Now, PRN Live host Doug Rice believes that Wallace’s teammate, Tyler Reddick, is up for some Denny treatment at the Charlotte Roval. “What my evil side wants to see is that Tyler Reddick, ready to win the oval, and then Denny comes out of the way,” Rice said.

If such a dire outcome happened, it would be saddening for Tyler Reddick, who is one of the four drivers below the cutline. He ranks second among playoff drivers in points (166) on road courses in 2025. Reddick has also run well at the Roval, finishing 11th in 2024, sixth in 2023, and eighth in 2021. However, his dominance has not been enough to topple Shane van Gisbergen’s monster grip. PRN Live co-host Alexis Erickson said, “Tyler Reddick, I think, is in the bottom four, the best road course racer out of those four drivers. But I just don’t think he’s good enough or has been good enough on road courses lately to kick SVG or AJ Allmendinger out of that.”

Tyler Reddick currently sits at 11th in the point standings and 29 points below the cutline. Similarly, Bubba Wallace heads into the race in 10th place with 3,057 points and 26 points below the cutline. The only road course race Wallace has run well in 2025 was at Watkins Glen, when he was eighth. This rivals Reddick’s top ten finishes at COTA, Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. Wallace won in double overtime at Indianapolis in July. He added two more top-ten finishes in the regular season and has had three in the playoffs (6th at Darlington, 8th at Illinois, and 5th at Kansas).

Evidently, Tyler Reddick faces a solid challenge at the Charlotte Roval. At the same time, however, he is drawing sympathy for an off-track crisis.

Deflating the glamorous image

2025 has clearly been a rollercoaster ride for Tyler Reddick on the racetrack. At the same time, the No. 45 Toyota driver has been fighting battles off track. 23XI Racing is thickly embroiled in a NASCAR lawsuit. All three of its drivers are racing in open cars, as the team lost its charters. On top of that, Reddick’s 4-month-old son, Rookie, experienced a severe health crisis recently. Alexa DeLeon, Reddick’s wife, explained that he was “showing signs of heart failure that were being missed.” Presently, Rookie is admitted to an Intensive Care Unit.

This had made Tyler Reddick consider missing the Kansas race, no matter the playoff consequences. He said, “It’s difficult, it’s not what you want for your kids. What my son Rookie is going through is serious. It’s a tricky situation. More than anything, I’m just ready to get on a plane and go home.” He added, “I wouldn’t say that [missing the race] was off-the-table depending on how things were going. But thankfully he was doing well enough and me and my wife were on the same page about me staying for the race.”

And Kevin Harvick, 2014 Cup Series champion, agreed with him. Harvick observed how people can easily forget that NASCAR drivers have families and fall into crises like any other human. “A lot of people just want to critique and criticize people for what they do in the race car. And a lot of times they forget that these are families and humans and have to deal with, you’ve got to deal with the circle of life while in the middle of this intense cycle of events that happen on and off the racetrack.”

Clearly, Tyler Reddick has a lot on his plate. Here’s to rooting for his success both on and off the tracks, so that he navigates his problems seamlessly.