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Is Michael Jordan's involvement in NASCAR doing more harm than good for Bubba Wallace's performance?

Tyler Reddick’s car at Darlington Raceway is getting a lot of attention for its unique design! For the 2024 regular-season finale, the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE, sponsored by Upper Deck, features the images of three legendary athletes: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Wayne Gretzky. As if racing at Darlington was not enough of a challenge, he has to now be extremely careful to not get the portrait of the legends damaged.

Knowing that he has three G.O.A.Ts of sports on his car, many wanted to know how he feels about having such a privilege. At the pre-race interview at Darlington, Bob Pockrass brought up the whole scheme scenario and asked him about his thoughts on being the one driving the car.

A huge responsibility for Tyler Reddick at Darlington

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Tyler Reddick did not have too much pressure on him heading into Darlington, knowing that he already has a safe spot in the playoffs due to his two wins at Talladega and Michigan, respectively, and winning the Cook Out Southern 500 is not as important for him as it is to his teammate Bubba Wallace.

Although Reddick is safe in the playoffs, the same cannot be said for Wallace. However, despite not needing a win at the circuit, a victory would always be appreciated. Especially if you consider the fact that he is representing the three G.O.A.Ts across the sports world. So when Bob Pockrass had the chance to ask the 23XI Racing driver about his car, he asked Reddick, “Tyler, have you ever seen the hood of your car yet? Are you familiar with…? I’m sure you know Tiger Woods and Jordan, but I don’t know how big of a public hockey fan you are.”

Taking the question in, Reddick responded, “Yeah Wayne Gretzky, man—is pretty crazy. I mean, you don’t have to be very familiar with hockey to know about Wayne Gretzky. I remember seeing the car in the shop last week, and I saw Michael on the hood.” At this point, Reddick did not know that he would also be representing the golf and hockey stars.

Explaining what happened when he took a second glance at the car, Reddick further explained, “I quickly went by the gym or whatever, and then a couple of days later, I took another look at it and realized Tiger [Woods] and Wayne [Gretzky] were on the hood too. So yeah, that’s just adding to the pressure for the weekend. It’s fine with me.”

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Is Michael Jordan's involvement in NASCAR doing more harm than good for Bubba Wallace's performance?

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That’s when the big question came up as Pockrass asked him, “What’s it like to have your boss’s face on it?” Knowing that it was Michael Jordan along with the other legends on the hood of his car, Reddick gave the smartest answer, saying, “I better take care of the hood. I better take care of it.” Although Tyler Reddick does not need a win, that won’t stop him from fighting for it, so let’s see what he had to say while preparing for the Cook Out Southern 500.

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Where does he stand ahead of the Darlington race?

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Tyler Reddick is vying for the Cup Series Regular Season Championship and the 15 playoff points that could boost his overall title bid. He is chasing his first title in NASCAR’s top series, currently leading the standings by 17 points ahead of Kyle Larson. Summing up the race last weekend, he said, “It felt like Daytona took forever to get through, we didn’t have an ideal night there, but the hard work everyone at AirSpeed has put in has given us a cushion.”

Furthermore, ahead of the final regular-season race at Darlington, he emphasized staying focused on the track rather than worrying about competitors. It is a track where he’s excelled before, finishing second in last season’s race. Showing the same confidence, he said, “I feel pretty good about where we’re at going into Darlington,” said Reddick. “It’s been a really strong track for us, it’s not a place where we leave 17 points on the table. So I feel good.”

In his last Darlington race, Reddick led the most laps but ended up 32nd after a late incident with Chris Buescher. Now, he’s determined to change that outcome and redeem himself.

USA Today via Reuters

Reddick has a lot of experience at Darlington, including rookie tests and NASCAR Next Gen testing, making him a potential race winner for this weekend. Now all he has to do is keep his word of taking care of the car while trying to bag the win for more points by walking into the playoffs.

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Do you think that Tyler Reddick will be able to do justice to having the three legends on his car hood? Share your thoughts in the comments below.