Before Michael Jordan became a National Basketball Association superstar and one of the sport’s greatest scorers, he played at the University of North Carolina for Coach Dean Smith. Smith stressed team above individual and didn’t want his players under a single spotlight. Later, this led to the interesting commentary that the only coach who could consistently hold Jordan under 30 points was Dean Smith.
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Oddly, this concept jumped back to the forefront in Jordan’s life Sunday when Tyler Reddick, his driver at 23XI Racing, won for the fifth time in nine races. “This kid is on fire,” Jordan said in the aftermath of yet another Reddick victory. “I don’t know how I can ever cool him down.” (Reddick is 30 years old, a kid maybe in the 63-year-old Jordan’s universe).
No need to cool him down, obviously. Jordan would be quite pleased to watch Reddick continue sailing and fashion one of the best seasons in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Meanwhile, it’s time for mere mortals to consider if Tyler Reddick might be an alien.
The 30-year-old California driver is doing things that remind many observers of two possibilities: 1. That he might be a generational talent. 2. That he might be from outside the galaxy. (Indeed, there was a spaceship spotted on the other side of the moon recently).
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Even when Reddick doesn’t have the best car, he has found a way to victory lane. Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, led a race-high 131 laps Sunday at Kansas only to lose to Reddick, who led only 10 laps, because of a late-race caution flag.
Reddick’s win total of five is the highest of his career, and he has 27 more opportunities to add to that number. This could reach the point of big-time history.
“We’re going to Talladega (Sunday),” Reddick said. “Hopefully, we can maintain there, get some of these other races coming on after that… Texas, the Glen, tracks where I feel like I’d like to keep growing that point lead.”
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Reddick leads the points by 105 over second-place Hamlin. His lead over Hamlin is bigger than the gap from second place to 11th.
And Reddick is roaming in territory where giants once walked. He is the first driver to win five of a season’s first nine races since Dale Earnhardt in 1987. He has won six races from the pole over the course of 13 career victories, and his percentage in that column is fourth all-time, behind Fonty Flock, Bobby Isaac, and Tim Flock.
Reddick’s average finish of 5.0 this season is dramatically better than everyone else. Hamlin, in second in that category, is at 9.6.
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Reddick at Talladega last year.
Although Talladega is wildly unpredictable, there is little reason to expect a poor run from Reddick there. He has won the season’s other drafting races (at Daytona and Atlanta) and scored at Talladega two springs ago.
Reddick will be battling the statistics Sunday, though. The last 11 Talladega races have been won by a different driver, starting with Hamlin in October 2020 and ending last October with Chase Briscoe. Reddick, of course, is among the 11.
“I think a couple weeks ago or couple wins ago, the question was, ‘Now you’ve won two or three, do you settle in, get in a good rhythm and go?’ ” Reddick said. “No. It’s let’s take advantage of how well we’re working together right now, see if we can continue to get the points, get the wins, while everyone is trying to figure it out and get it.”
Mike Hembree has covered auto racing for numerous media outlets, including USA Today, NASCAR Scene, NBC Sports, The Greenville News and the SPEED Channel. He has been roaming garage areas and pit roads for decades (although the persistent rumor that he covered the first Indianapolis 500 is not true). Winner of numerous motorsports and other media awards, he also has covered virtually every other major sport. He lives near Gaffney, South Carolina and can be convinced to attend Bruce Springsteen concerts if you have tickets.