NASCAR Cup Series

Tyler Reddick 1-on-1: On his son celebrating with MJ, driving Jordan Brand scheme

Published May. 2, 2024 11:05 a.m. ET

Tyler Reddick’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway a couple of weeks ago was more than just a victory — it was the first victory that 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan was at the track to join in the celebration.

And join he did, holding Reddick’s 4-year-old son, Beau, high in the air during the celebration to take the boy to victory lane. It was a moment that went viral as Jordan asked Beau if he was ready to celebrate.

It was Reddick’s first win since September when Reddick won at Kansas Speedway, the site of this weekend’s Cup race. Reddick’s busy week since the win included a quick conversation Saturday with FOX Sports about the Talladega win, Kansas and of course, Michael Jordan.

When you talked to us after the Talladega win, you hadn’t seen the video of Michael and Beau. So what did you think when you saw it?

It's pretty crazy, right? I knew [my fiance] Alexa had to be down in there somewhere with Beau. But seeing after the fact, seeing Michael carrying Beau like that, it is something else. I've heard it a few times this week, and I definitely agree that years down the road, he's going to really look back on the moment and be like, "That's just crazy." I'm already thinking what a crazy moment. That was something else.

What do you think when you have that Jordan paint scheme on the car?

I try not to be partial to any of the partners honestly. But just something about running that Jordan Brand car and then Michael being there to celebrate in victory lane makes that whole moment just really, really special.

Jordan is a big dude [Reddick is not the tallest driver for sure]. Does he lean down when he talks to you?

There's many times he's went to pat me on the back and say, "Good job, kid" and he's literally hitting me in the back of the head. Yeah, I'm down there. But, hey, Beau was up higher than he normally or probably ever will be with me — so I hope he had fun seeing what the world is like from up there.

You probably can't even throw him that high if you were to toss Beau in the air?

It’d be risky.

Going to Kansas next week, what makes you guys so good there?

How we work together helps us unloading [and being fast] — whichever car is in the first group or the second group or even if we're in the same group, we run around each other and learn from one another. Our team does a really good job of really hitting the balance of our race cars. Then more times than not, we've just done a good job of executing all day and staying in the mix.

I can't figure you guys out this year, whether you are a top-10 team or a top-5 team or a championship contender. Do you know what you are?

I know what we're capable of. And I know this team knows that, too. We've just got to consistently week-in and week-out perform with the likes of the 11 [of Denny Hamlin], the 5 [of Kyle Larson], the 24 [of William Byron]. Until we can start doing that more consistently, we'll just continue trying to be one of those guys. But I think it's there. We’ve just got to come to a place like [Dover] and run top-5 and that's going to help that.

Does the win at the Talladega or the fact that you have consistent top-10s [recently] mean more?

Winning in the fashion we did meant a lot for sure. But I'm not going to lie, [at Talladega] coming out of Turn 4, I was more concerned about making sure I stayed in the top 10 than trying to win the race. And I just ended up getting both.

Are you still kind of flabbergasted on how it happened or is it pretty simple?

I wouldn't say it's like really simple, but the Fords just got a better push down the back straightaway. Josh Berry just unfortunately wasn't able to get to Martin [Truex Jr.], wasn't there to push him so we just kind of stalled out so that's part of it. I thought I was racing for fifth to eighth off of Turn 4 and then they [up front] started going up, going down and I was getting a tow off of them and got my momentum back going and I just had to check up less when Michael [McDowell] got sideways.

So you win and you know Michael Jordan is a big deal, but any part of all the hoopla over Talladega either surprise you or be another reminder of just how big a person he is?

Gosh. I tried to pick up on as much as I could on Twitter — or X, excuse me — but I didn't see it all. Just the moment, seeing all the people interact with it on social media was really, really cool and put it in perspective, I'd say. Other big-name athletes and actors and influencers, if you will, people who have done quite a bit in their careers and their lifetimes were chiming in on it. So it was really cool to see.

A lot of shows that NASCAR normally doesn't get on — sports shows, non-sports show — had the highlights.

Yeah. I didn't know how many we got on to be honest with you. I didn’t catch up with that part. But you can only imagine.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.