"You're terrible at speedway racing": Tyler Reddick recollects how Michael Jordan's roast "extra motivated" him to get better

Tyler Reddick went down memory lane and recalled when 23XI Racing's co-owner Michael Jordan taunted the former's speedway racing prowess. The 2024 NASCAR regular-season champion outlined how MJ's roast became "extra motivation" to improve.

Reddick is running his fifth full-time Cup Series season, and second for 23XI. The seven-time Cup race winner entered the Huntersville-based outfit in 2022 and marked his first run with the team at the 2023 Daytona 500.

But before the season-opener race, Reddick and his teammate Bubba Wallace talked about something concerning the speedway racing. Then, Michael Jordan jibed at the #45 Toyota driver for having "terrible" speedway racing skills.

When Kevin Harvick, during the 'HarvickHappyHour' podcast, inquired Reddick about Jordan's best advice, he recalled the interaction before his debut run for 23XI.

"We were down in Daytona before the 500, a year and a half ago. Me and Bubba were talking something about speedway racing, and I can't remember what I said, but he (MJ) turned to me and said, 'Man, you don't have any room to talk, you're terrible at speedway racing.' He just kind of took a shot at me, I wasn't expecting it," Reddick said (0:14)

"It was a nice thing, I took it the right way and I'm like, 'All right, I have some work to do, I have some extra motivation.' I was already motivated to get better at speedway racing. When MJ calls you out about not being very good at it, it's easy to find motivation to get better," he added (0:45).

Tyler Reddick finished sixth in his first Cup Series season with Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan's co-owned venture

"He gutted it out": Michael Jordan hails Tyler Reddick's effort to win the regular season title

The Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway witnessed Chase Briscoe punch his playoff ticket and Tyler Reddick etch his and 23XI's maiden NASCAR title. The latter kicked off his 367-lap run from sixth place and finished tenth after recording fourth and eighth-place finishes in both stages.

Reddick entered the regular season finale as the Cup Series leader. However, his outing was plagued by a serious stomach illness. Though he managed to grab some pills from the #45 team, he dropped them in his Camry and couldn't take any. As a result, when he returned to the pits on Lap 154, he was again given medicines, but in a water bottle, to prevent the spillage.

Tyler Reddick endured the odds, etched the regular season title, and dethroned Kyle Larson by one point. Jordan was content with the result and praised his driver's efforts in battling illness to seal the title.

“I mean, I know what it feels like to be sick and trying to perform, and just to do what he did, I mean, I wasn’t going around 200 miles an hour in a car, but I’m proud of his effort, and we needed it. We won by one point. I mean, he gutted it out. So hopefully he feels better tomorrow, and we feel better next week,” Jordan said via NASCAR.

Reddick is placed fourth in the playoff standings with a 33-point buffer over the cutline.