Michael Jordan’s Talladega Champion Confesses a Leap of Faith as Cars Violently Flipped Beside Him

Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing’s #45 made it a point to ensure basketball legend Michael Jordan’s presence in the victory lane at Talladega for the first time. However, fortunes looked impressively bleak for Reddick, considering his teammate, Bubba Wallace, and over half the Toyota contingent either fell out of contention or DNF due to just two contact-related cautions in the final stage.

But as the dominant Ford Dark Horses stumbled all around Reddick’s incredible last-lap comeback victory, the man himself seems to have thrown all caution to the wind, leaving no stone unturned, so that ol’ MJ could enjoy NASCAR’s biggest party of the month in Talladega, Alabama.

Tyler Reddick goes all-in, secures first 2024 victory for Michael Jordan and 23XI Racing

Reddick’s first win for 23XI since last September in Kansas can be deemed iconic for various reasons. First, the #45 driver won his inaugural superspeedway victory at the GEICO 500. Second, with both his teammate and his team owner, Denny Hamlin, unable to finish the race after their respective Toyotas crashed out in Stage 3, MJ’s hopes for another Talladega victory depended primarily on Tyler Reddick.

But what was the two-time Xfinity champion thinking in his pursuit of glory while navigating the treacherous conditions as he bested Brad Keselowski for the P1 spot on Lap 188? In a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX, Reddick explains, “I’d say that late, I am just holding wide open. I just close my eyes, I am going to hold it wide open. I am gonna do whatever it takes to not lift. I’ve been in that situation in a few different scenarios. That’s the first time I’ve been in that spot at the front when you battle for a win.” 

Drawing on his 2023 Yellawood 500 experience during the playoffs, where Reddick pushed through another final lap “big one” to overturn a P25 or below position to a commendable P16 finish, he also stated, “I think our last time here in the playoffs, I saw everyone wrecking and I just drove into it. I just hit it as hard as I could and we gained a couple of spots out of it, so that’s just the mentality you gotta have here. You just gotta kinda throw caution to the wind.” 

However, emerging as the true Toyota underdog in the 2024 GEICO 500, Reddick also hails the incredible position at the top of the first ten finishers list, filled out by four Fords and five other Chevrolets. As it happens, his podium buddies, (#10) Noah Gragson at P3, and runners-up Brad Keselowski (#6) also drove a Mustang to victory lane right behind Reddick’s Camry XSE. Acknowledging his NASCAR mates representing the blue ovals rigorously on Sunday, Reddick concludes, “And as it turned out, I mean the #10 and the #6 kinda got stacked up once Michael got turned sideways, and thankfully I had just enough momentum to get by both of them.”

But in between Reddick’s victory celebrations, how did teammate Bubba Wallace feel after crashing out from a bid to break his 53-race winless streak approaching Dover? Especially considering he gave 23XI Racing their first-ever victory at Talladega.

Team members caught in Talladega’s treacherous draft-dance

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Around Lap 157, a heart-stopping incident involving the full-time entries of Legacy Motor Club and Bubba Wallace saw the fourth and final caution flag fly in the race. This incident could’ve ended badly for three out of seven drivers unable to finish the race due to this prior incident. Ironically, it was Bubba’s #23 and JH Nemechek’s #42 Camry XSEs that were primarily responsible for taking out 23XI co-owner and JGR full-time driver Denny Hamlin, as well as, Erik Jones of LMC.

All three drivers have emerged safe since the incident, but notably, the leader of this seven-car, single-file Toyota ‘plan’, Tyler Reddick, took off as soon as the chaos erupted behind him. The lucky #45 would eventually win the GEICO 500, while Hamlin and Wallace would end the race next to each other at the back of the pack in P37 and P36, respectively.

After release from the infield care center, a disappointed Wallace expressed his feelings. According to post-race reports, the #23 driver said, “Look forward to running these places and then you just get trapped in somebody else’s mess, but I hate it. It doesn’t make us look good at all.” Regardless, with two Talladega victories in four official years as a race team, Michael Jordan will certainly be happy with the most recent success on the track, but what about Denny Hamlin?