Jordan’s faith in Reddick pays off and the 23XI team earns a shot at the NASCAR title

HUISSTEAD, Fla. – The hardest hit Tyler Reddick took at Homestead-Miami Speedway wasn’t the result of bouncing off the wall or another driver crashing into him.

It was from his boss.

Michael Jordan is 6 feet tall. Reddick is maybe 6 feet tall, at most. When Jordan comes at him at full speed and wraps his enormous arms around Reddick, the driver gets a jolt. That’s exactly what happened next Sunday Reddick won at Homestead and qualified one of four spots in NASCAR’s winner-take-all title-deciding race in Phoenix in two weeks.

“To be able to award him … it’s a real honor,” Reddick said. “It was really cool to see how happy he was. We are all very happy with it.”

For good reason. Winning still drives Jordan more than anything, even at age 61.

Building a massive multi-billion dollar business empire – everything from his famous shoes to clothes, steaks, cars, golf courses and more – couldn’t extinguish Jordan’s competitive streak. Nor did he win six NBA championships, be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and be widely considered the greatest player ever. Jordan always wants to win, whether he’s golfing against PGA pros on his tricked-out drone-delivered course in South Florida or sitting on the pit wall watching his 23XI race team.

“Yes, love! Yeah!” Jordan shouted as he arrived at Reddick moments after Sunday’s win. “Good job, boy! Man, good job.”

There is no greater praise for Jordan.

There are some similarities between Jordan and Reddick, despite their large height difference. Jordan was notorious for playing well when he was sick. Reddick took the regular season championship this year at Darlington, a race in which he was ravaged by a virus and rode while fearing he would get sick in his helmet or worse.

“I think it’s just a combination of talent and resilience,” said crew chief Billy Scott. “Sometimes when things aren’t going well, I think he’s in his element. He seems to be dealing with that very well, staying calm and focused. He has so much talent to fall back on, even if he has to overcome some disadvantage, whether it’s illness or a tire deficit, he has done that.”

Sunday’s victory secured Reddick one of four spots in the winner-take-all final. If anyone was wondering if the 23XI team was distracted by things off the court – specifically Jordan is part of a lawsuit to NASCAR about revenue sharing, something that could have huge implications for the future series – those questions were asked and answered.

As a player, Jordan rarely, if ever, allows off-the-field issues to affect his play. As an owner, the same rules apparently apply to him and his team.

“We are here to win races. I think everyone at 23XI is focused on that,” said Dave Rogers, the 23XI team competition director. “I think any team that competes for a championship or wins a championship has to deal with distractions. There are so many roadblocks in the way, so much noise, so many distractions. I don’t care who it is, what it’s, or If you’re going to win a championship, you have to fight through adversity. That’s just part of it.

“This is one of those distractions that we would rather ignore and just compete at the highest level we know how.”

The penultimate race of the year at Homestead provided many talking points.

– There were 33 lead changes – the maximum being Reddick’s move past two cars on the final lap, with one of those cars driven by Denny Hamlin, part of 23XI ownership – for a Homestead record.

There’s a chance none of Hendrick Motorsports’ cars make it to the final four at Phoenix, which would be an almost unfathomable development considering how well 2024 has gone for that high-powered team.

– NASCAR said there were more than 6,000 passes during Sunday’s green flag races, nearly twice as many as any previous Homestead race.

– The ability to deliver great drama at the end of a playoff race certainly made some wonder why Homestead is no longer hosting the season finale.

But the biggest story of all was Reddick and his last ditch move that ultimately paid off. And since he was the biggest story, that meant Jordan was too. One of basketball’s ultimate winners now has a shot at NASCAR’s biggest prize, at a time when he’s taking his differences over the way the sport is governed to the courtroom.

“He was just very proud of the fight we had, he never gave up, fought through the adversity,” Reddick said. “Really very proud of the efforts we have made. Like I said, he believes in me. He believes in this team.”

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