Tyler Reddick competes for the NASCAR Cup Sequence championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway with added consideration.
Reddick competes for 23XI Racing, one of many race groups concerned in an antitrust lawsuit towards NASCAR. Provided that state of affairs, there’s a probably intriguing visible of NASCAR having to current Reddick and crew homeowners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan with the championship trophy.
Add in that the crew came upon Friday the preliminary injunction request had been denied by the courts. There will likely be an enchantment. 23XI Racing and Entrance Row Motorsport are asking to race as constitution groups subsequent season however with out giving up their rights to sue NASCAR.
“I haven’t actually needed to attempt to block it out; it just about got here naturally with what lays forward of us,” Reddick stated of blocking out the surface world this week. “They’ve bought a crew of individuals which can be taking good care of that. I’m taking good care of what I can do as the motive force. Yeah, it hasn’t been troublesome in any respect to not take into consideration that stuff.
“I didn’t actually have to inform myself to disregard it as a result of I’m so locked in on this week, the trophy (sitting) over there, all of the banners and signage. We all know what we’re racing for, so it’s been very simple to remain targeted.”
Reddick and the No. 45 crew have been locked into the championship race since successful at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 27). It has given the crew and the motive force, who received the common season championship, added time to arrange for the finale.
“I believe there’s some extent the place we will nearly overdo it in relation to an oval, however I really feel like we’ve had a very good stability,” Reddick stated. “We labored actually, actually onerous as quickly as we left this race within the spring of going again to Airspeed and post-race scaling this tire and it left us in a extremely great place for coming again to it when it got here time to prepare for this championship.”
Sunday is Reddick’s first likelihood at a Cup Sequence championship. It’s his second season driving for 23XI Racing.
Nevertheless, he’s not unfamiliar with a championship battle. Reddick is a two-time Xfinity Sequence champion — albeit having received when the finale was nonetheless at Homestead-Miami Speedway — with expertise within the elimination format. These recollections are sturdy for Reddick going into the weekend.
“I really feel like I’m proper there, mindset-wise,” Reddick stated. “It’s onerous to assume again and bear in mind all the precise little particulars of it. However simply how I felt going into these two Championship 4s, it looks like I’m actually shut, if not in the identical place, mentally getting in.”
