Tyler Reddick enters the NASCAR Chase as the No. 3 seed after a strong 2026 regular season that also exposed some problems at 23XI Racing. Reddick won five Cup Series races, the most in the regular season, including the Daytona 500, Atlanta and Circuit of The Americas.
He also became the first driver to win the first three races of a Cup season. But his results later dropped. In a 12 Questions interview with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Reddick discussed his form, sleep apnea treatment, team debriefs and several stories from his NASCAR career.
According to The Athletic, Reddick had six finishes of 25th or worse after his first nine races, compared with five top-five finishes. The NASCAR Chase now begins at Darlington.
Tyler Reddick Enters the NASCAR Chase After a Tough 23XI Racing Stretch
Reddick told Gluck that even his fourth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 felt disappointing because 23XI Racing expected more.
“As crazy as it sounds, even when we finished fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 (in May), we wanted more. That was a super disappointing result for us.”
He also pointed to Nashville, where he finished seventh or eighth. Reddick said the team started taking top-10 results for granted before wrecks, mechanical issues and other problems affected its races.
“I should’ve been more thankful for some of those mediocre back-half-of-the-top-10 days,” he said.
Despite the poor results, Reddick said the team continued to make good decisions during difficult races.
“In every situation where we’ve finished 30th or worse, multiple laps down or DNF’d, the fight the team has shown leading up to that moment or after it has continued to be really rock solid.”
He added that the results did not always show what happened inside the races. “There was a lot of fight.”
Tyler Reddick Says Better Sleep Has Helped Before the NASCAR Chase
Reddick also told The Athletic that treating obstructive sleep apnea has changed how he feels before NASCAR races. Reddick said CPAP treatment has improved his sleep, leaving him feeling more refreshed and energetic when he wakes up.
“Over the last couple months, it’s gotten a lot better,” he said. “Just feeling like I’m waking up with more energy and, from that side of things, being in a much better space.”
Reddick said better sleep has also helped him avoid feeling tired during the day.
“I feel like getting better sleep has helped me recently with some of that stuff. I’m not getting as foggy or running low on my battery, if you will, midday.”
He recalled struggling to wake up before using the machine. “It’s helped out a lot. I was so used to waking up in the morning just flustered because I couldn’t wake up. I couldn’t think.”
23XI Racing Driver Tyler Reddick Shares More NASCAR Stories
The interview also covered Reddick’s habits and several unusual NASCAR stories. During team debriefs, he said Bubba Wallace sometimes tells him, “Dude, just shut up. It’s my turn. Move on.”
Reddick said he does not want false comfort after a bad race.
“It’s OK to not be OK.”
He added, “It’s not OK. We’re better than this.”
According to Gluck’s interview, Reddick also gets frustrated when another driver pulls out in front of him during practice.
“If you want to piss me off, that’s the best way to do it. Just pull out in front of me in practice.”
Reddick also recalled a 2014 Truck Series incident at Pocono that resulted in officials parking him. “If you ever do anything that stupid again, you’ll never drive in NASCAR ever again.”
The Athletic interview also touched on his Tim Richmond helmet, his damaged iRacing computer and Kyle Larson’s unusual question about racing Michael Jordan at Bristol.
NASCAR Driver Tyler Reddick Faces a Tough Reality Before the Chase