CONCORD, N.C. — For a brief time Saturday, Tyler Reddick was able to hop in the No. 45 Toyota and hone in on leading his 23XI Racing group closer to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Those efforts proved fruitful as he earned pole position for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Outside the car, though, he and wife Alexa Reddick have been pinning all focus on their son Rookie, who at 4 months old remains in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, amid recent health concerns.
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Alexa Reddick shared on Sept. 28 that doctors discovered Rookie was displaying signs of heart failure. Her latest update, shared to Instagram on Saturday night, provided additional news, posted some six hours after Tyler Reddick won the pole.
“Rookie has a tumor that’s ‘choking’ the renal vein & renal artery,” her post read, “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. Waiting is OK right now to give his heart a break while he’s on (blood pressure) medication. They expect his heart to fully recover because it was just an innocent bystander. We have answers but a journey ahead to bring our little Cookie home.”
The circumstances have weighed heavily on the family, putting full priority into ensuring Rookie’s recovery and well-being while Tyler also pursues a spot in the Round of 8. But anything related to Reddick’s day job has taken an obvious backseat to his son’s health crisis.
The Reddicks received more answers following last week’s race at Kansas Speedway.
“In some ways, I was fortunate when I came home (from Kansas),” Reddick said Saturday at Charlotte. “Basically, as I was rolling into the hospital, they were able to somewhat understand fully — to a much clearer picture — what exactly it was. They obviously knew what the issue was, so they found the cause. So I can’t imagine what that was like for my wife at the hospital. She’s there looking at our son, and they’re still trying to diagnose and understand what the issue is.
“Certainly something crazy you obviously never expect, but it’s a lot to go through for my wife, for my son, my other son as well, Beau. So it’s trying to manage it all.”
Indeed, Alexa Reddick has been there for every moment as she and Rookie navigate their circumstances together. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by her husband.
“Just really proud of her, honestly, throughout this whole process,” Tyler Reddick said. “She’s been — I hate to even use the word, but locked in, honestly, on everything that’s going on, whether that’s what they found today, what the plan is going forward, everything. She’s paying, obviously, very close attention and just giving very good feedback to the doctors on past history and everything. Yeah, difficult situation for both of us being but she’s been a great one.”
Reddick enters Sunday’s race 29 points beneath the cutline to advance into the next round of the playoffs, a virtual must-win situation that was aided by a strong qualifying effort Saturday that has him leading the field to the green flag for the Round of 12 finale. But when he’s not behind the wheel, Reddick is looking at what’s most important.
“I think you just try to be as present as you can,” he said, “whether that’s on the phone like I was in Kansas or in person like I was this week. Just be there as much as I can. Me and Alexa feel, right now, good enough for me to be here today.”