“It was hard for anybody; it wasn’t that for me”: Tyler Reddick makes feelings known on his role in his $3.5B-worth boss’ historic NASCAR triumph

NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick dominated the qualifying for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday and secured pole position for the first road course event of the 2025 Cup Series campaign. Following the end of the session, Reddick reflected on his run after 23XI Racing secured a historic moment in their NASCAR career.

Tyler Reddick pilots the #45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, competing full-time in the Cup Series. The two-time Xfinity Series champion has secured 21 trips to victory lane in his NASCAR career, with 8 of them coming in NASCAR's top-division. Reddick also secured the Cup Series regular season title last season, cementing himself as one of the top competitors in American stock car racing.

Reddick secured a lap time of 98.076 seconds to put himself ahead of the field. Meanwhile, his teammate Bubba Wallace was behind him by a razor-thin margin of .224 seconds, securing a 98.300 lap. This puts both 23XI drivers in the front row for tomorrow's race. Following the end of the qualifying session, Reddick reflected on his performance as $3.5B worth of Michael Jordan's team created history in their NASCAR career. (via Speedway Digest)

""Yeah, all in all it felt like it was hard for anybody in the field today to have a perfect lap. Certainly, it wasn't that for me but hit the right areas that matter the most. Fortunately, put together a pretty good lap that was able to hold on there. Certainly, didn't know the #9 (Chase Elliott) and some of the other cars, the capability of re-running a good time and what that was going to look like. All in all, we had really good lap, and we were able to hang onto it throughout the whole session," said Reddick

23XI Racing’s newest addition, Riley Herbst, faced a challenging qualifying session at COTA, landing a P31 starting position. Meanwhile, teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace prepare to take on the newly reconfigured 2.3-mile, 20-turn National Course. Reddick, who secured a top-five finish in last year’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, now holds the pole position.

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Tyler Reddick's teammate Bubba Wallace ‘not over the moon’ despite P2 starting spot at COTA

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace wasn’t entirely satisfied with his P2 qualifying result for Sunday’s race, despite it being his career-best road course performance. After the session, Wallace admitted he felt "wonky" and acknowledged that they were only second-best to his teammate Tyler Reddick in the #45 car.

"I don't know why I'm not like over the moon excited about starting second on a road course. I don't know, it just feels wonky to me. I'm not sure, I don't know. We did it, we executed[...] We were faster than the rest of the guys except for one in our group, so we'll take it." said Bubba Wallace

Meanwhile, the race is scheduled for 3:30 PM Eastern time on Sunday. Catch the exclusive broadcast on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM.