MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Tyler Reddick’s riveting run of success in the early stages of the NASCAR Cup Series season is everything a driver in a contract year could want. The 30-year-old driver was a hot commodity when 23XI Racing signed him ahead of the 2023 campaign, and his market value has only increased this year after four wins in the first six races.
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Reddick’s on-track progress has stoked talks that a long-term extension is within closer reach, and he addressed the buzz around his future Saturday afternoon, on the eve of the circuit’s first Martinsville Speedway meet of the season.
“We’re going through the process,” Reddick said before Cup Series practice. “We’ll just see how it goes, and hopefully it’ll be done soon.”
Reddick is the runaway leader atop the Cup Series standings entering Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and his victory last weekend at Darlington Raceway pushed his career win total in Cup to an even dozen – nine of which have come during his time with 23XI. The performance prompted a question to 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin during his “Actions Detrimental” podcast about the nature of the negotiations, specifically whether an armored truck flush with cash would soon be pulling up to the team’s Airspeed headquarters for a delivery.
“Soon” was also how Hamlin described the landing of a potential agreement, saying that Reddick “deserves everything he gets.” For his part, Reddick has indicated his preference to stay, telling The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi: “I want to be here; I love racing here at 23XI and I’m looking forward to getting all buttoned up so we can move on.”
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After winning the Busch Light Pole in Saturday’s qualifying at Martinsville, Hamlin lauded Reddick’s resilience – both through a surprisingly winless 2025 and through the in-race adversity that’s challenged his No. 45 Toyota team at certain points of this season. It’s why Hamlin’s bullish on keeping him long-term.
“He will be, and Tyler’s one of those guys that was very important for us to get our hands on very early, but I think he’s lived up to the expectations for us,” Hamlin said. “Certainly, last year was not great, but his not-great years are still in the top 10. Those are the elite drivers. We’re seeing this year, he’s putting it all together, and our race cars are really fast, too. They really are, and what I like about it is, they’re winning races that they’re overcoming something. They’re not just flat-out dominating them, so that shows his maturity.”