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Can Michael Jordan's winning mentality transform 23XI Racing into a NASCAR powerhouse?

23XI Racing might be a relatively new team in the NASCAR Cup Series. But, they have quickly established themselves as the future powerhouse of the sport. The team is backed by the brains of NBA legend Michael Jordan and JGR star Denny Hamlin. The core identity and values of both individuals are to win at all costs; therefore, racing under their leadership can be a daunting challenge for any race car driver.

However, Tyler Reddick, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota Camry, isn’t fazed by the relentless pressure and push to be better. Rather, he embraces the pressures and tries to convert them into big results on the racetrack. To be fair, he certainly has taken center stage in terms of performance, despite the presence of star driver Bubba Wallace. And with the Chicago Street Race in sight, he is optimistic about a solid run for the #45 team.

Reddick understands what it means to race for 23XI Racing

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With the win at Talladega, Tyler Reddick has already secured his spot in the playoffs and is looking to bolster his playoff run with more victories and stage wins. Five of his last six starts in the Cup Series have resulted in top-10 finishes, so he is expected to turn up this weekend at Chicago. A city that’s special to team owner Michael Jordan, where he spent his years dominating the NBA scene.

It has to be noted, that the Jordan brand will be on the No. 45 Camry this weekend, thus putting the driver in the spotlight to perform. Acknowledging the task at hand, Reddick, in an interview with News Nation, said, It’s a good kind of pressure. It’s a pressure that I think those that compete have to be able to adjust to and kind of embrace you know … We are very motivated as a group to win as a team, but we’re obviously motivated to run well for our owners. And so we’re all into a weekend like this.”

In fact, whenever the Jordan brand has appeared on the #45 car, Reddick has managed to churn out solid results, including his win at Talladega. “I think back to the World 600 at Charlotte; we’re in that car right there. We also ran at Darlington at the Southern 500 in the playoffs. We ran that car obviously won at Talladega with. It just seems like we’re on these wonderful Jordan schemes; we rise to the moment and really bring some good performance out of our cars,” Reddick added.

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Talk about demanding the absolute best from himself and his team. Reddick was disappointed to finish P3 last weekend at Nashville. This wasn’t because he was unable to get the win on the very last lap, but it was frustration on his side of not having a competitive race car.

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Can Michael Jordan's winning mentality transform 23XI Racing into a NASCAR powerhouse?

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The #45 team needs to amp up its effort and aid Reddick in competing for wins

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It’s fair to say that winner Joey Loganoa’s #22 car wasn’t the best car on the day. All it took was late cautions, mayhem, and five overtime runs to determine the race winner. And by this time, the leaders running up front were dropping like flies running on empty tanks. This provided an opportunity for Reddick, who was running outside the top 10 for most of the race. But thanks to multiple overtimes, he was able to mount a late charge for the win against Logano. However, the Penske star successfully defended his lead and bagged his first win of the season.

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The 28-year-old 23XI Racing driver was crestfallen after the end of the race. But the frustration was not for missing out on winning but rather for his struggles throughout the race. “Like 60–70 to go, I don’t know if we missed the adjustment a little bit. But from that point on to the race ended, we were just too tight and couldn’t make moves. That was frustrating, for sure … Racing Ty I noticed right away just a numb in the front. I’m like, Oh boy, my tire, we had to back it up and just ride till the end,” Reddick said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

Hopefully, he won’t have to deal with those issues this weekend in Chicago and can put on a good show. Who knows? He might sneak in a second win for himself and his team.