HOMESTEAD, Fla. (WBTV) – The NASCAR Cup Series team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan will race for a championship after winning Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Tyler Reddick, driver of 23XI’s No. 45 car, won after going from third to first place on the final lap in Homestead.
One of the two drivers Reddick passed on his way to victory was Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI with Jordan.
After the race, Jordan made his way to the front stretch of the racetrack where he scooped Reddick up and congratulated him.
“Little kid drove his ass off,” Jordan said in a postrace interview. “I’m proud of him. He just let go. He just went for, and I’m glad. We needed it.”
A North Carolina native and basketball icon, Jordan ventured into Cup Series ownership with Hamlin in 2021 when they opened 23XI together. Bubba Wallace was the team’s driver during its first season before Kurt Busch joined in 2022. Reddick then took over for Busch in 2023.
23XI made headlines in September when it became one of two teams to sue NASCAR over the sport’s charter system, with Jordan’s race team calling NASCAR and the founding France family “monopolistic bullies.”
Sunday’s win propelled Reddick into NASCAR’s Championship 4 race, joining Joey Logano as the only other driver locked in. The victory was the eighth of Reddick’s career, and his fifth since joining Jordan’s team. This year will mark both his and 23XI’s first Championship 4 appearance.
The Cup Series has one race left in its Round of 8, giving some of the sport’s biggest names one last shot to make the final race.
Christopher Bell and William Byron are currently above the cut line, with Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott below it heading to Martinsville.
The championship race will be run Sunday, Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway. Reddick will be looking for his first Cup Series title, while Logano will race for his third. Larson, Blaney and Elliott are all past champions but have work to do to earn another opportunity.
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