A 23XI Racing driver has been flirting with the checkered flag. Tyler Reddick, one of the top-performing racers this season, came dangerously close to gaining a second victory. But the last lap snapped his ambition in a matter of seconds, not once but four times now. The most recent debacle came yesterday in Chicago, and NBC’s Parker Kligerman aptly called it “a game of inches.”

The No. 45 team made a correct pit strategy call in the end. That allowed Reddick to rocket through the field and almost overtake Alex Bowman. Yet a hasty slip-up on Reddick’s part stole his winning chances, as his team owner Denny Hamlin explained recently.

Denny Hamlin gets inside his driver’s head

When Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan created 23XI Racing, they were not just investing in a passing retirement plan. They meant for it to be a winning Cup team – and Tyler Reddick has been one driver hauling it to victory lane quite a few times. Reddick clinched his sixth Cup title in Talladega this year. But his heartbreaks numbered way more than his smiles. He even blamed NASCAR for stage break cautions in Chicago for his last-lap failure.

In the Chicago Street Race, Reddick was 1.4 seconds behind Alex Bowman on the last lap. But right then he clipped the left side of his Toyota Camry in Turn 5, and let Bowman slip through his fingers. This led to Denny Hamlin despairing over the close finish as well: “It’s a bummer. I thought he was gonna get there, especially as strongly as he was running him down. But yeah, fundamentals…to finish first, he must first finish…He wasn’t gonna be close enough off of turn 5 where he hit the wall to get him into turn 6.”

Then Denny Hamlin tried to put himself in Reddick’s shoes. Eventually, he came off with a verdict that Reddick probably lost his ease. “So I think he’s going to be tough on himself, but he’s trying everything he can. He’s probably thinking at that point, he’s got two more legit passing opportunities, right?” He added, “So there were two more options…one was going to be over the bridge and into turn 7, and the other one was gonna be the very last corner. I think that he probably panicked in counting down opportunities left in this final lap and he was down to two.”

This last-lap sting echoed Tyler Reddick’s earlier races as well. He survived the five restarts and slippery chaos to prevail in the end at Nashville Superspeedway. But eventually, he could not figure out a way past the No. 22. Similarly, Kyle Larson excellently blocked Reddick’s advances at Kansas Speedway and thus the latter had to settle for a second place. In Darlington, he battled with Buescher on the final laps and cost both podium finishes as Brad Keselowski grabbed the win.

Despite this string of heartbreaks for Reddick, he and his pit crew have been working diligently to maintain a constant streak of strong runs.

The No. 45 team took the right call

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No doubts exist regarding the efficiency of the 23XI No. 45 team. Although back-to-back close finishes are causes for heartbreak, the team has been running extremely strong. Recently in Chicago, Tyler Reddick was running tenth on the final restart with less than five minutes remaining. But a strategic pit call let him soar ahead – the team’s crew chief Billy Scott decided to go with slick tires at the end of the second stage.

“[We were] expecting it to be a close pace difference, and that’s how it looked like it was going to play out,” Scott said. “It just depended on how many people stayed on the wets and how big of a gap they built up with the guys on slicks trying to get through there.”

As Bowman continued on the wet weather tires, Reddick was high on hopes that he could pass him. But the Turn 5 bump with the wall slowed him down, and Bowman prevailed. Reddick was visibly frustrated and felt bad for letting his team down. “[I] just didn’t even give ourselves a shot to race him, unfortunately. I hate it. Not what this Jordan Brand Toyota Camry is about and what this team is about. [We] just got to start capitalizing on these (races).”

However, Tyler Reddick currently stands 3rd in points and is a solid contention for the playoffs. We can wait and see how passionately the No. 45 team fights for the championship.