Michael Jordan instills winning attitude at 23XI Racing as Reddick races for 1st NASCAR Cup title

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tyler Reddick needs no pep talk or motivation when it comes to winning his first Cup Series title.

He drives for Michael Jordan, after all, and the NBA Hall of Famer collected six championships in his unwavering desire for excellence at all times. Now in his fourth year of team ownership, Jordan has a shot at winning a NASCAR championship Sunday with Reddick in the winner-take-all season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who started the team with Jordan in 2021 and then brought Reddick to the lineup in 2022, said Jordan has really only spoken up once in a team briefing last year to emphasize how champions operate.

“I think there has been one specific competition meeting that he said he wanted to participate in. He listened to it and listened to it, and at the end, he gave his opinion on what he heard, and he didn’t like what he heard and he gave some pointed remarks on what championship teams sound like and what winning teams sound like and how we need to change the way we are communicating and the way we are shifting blame all over the place," Hamlin said. "That was kind of a pivotal moment for our team and our drivers to hear and taking responsibility for each person’s shortcomings and how you are going to get better, and that was a big moment in shifting our team’s mentality.”

But it's only because Jordan cares so desperately about both winning and his new venture as a NASCAR team owner. He's currently leading a two-team federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and chairman Jim France over the current revenue-sharing model.

"The racing side of it brings out more emotion and passion than I’ve seen outside of his own career in sport," Hamlin said. "I’ve seen him on golf courses, I’ve seen him play cards, things like that — I’ve seen all of that. But nothing matches the emotion that winning a NASCAR race has shown in him.

"I think he’s spoken quite a bit about how this fills his cup — this fills his competition cup that he has been missing for such a long time. That’s good for everyone and, certainly, great for our team to have Michael support them the way that he has.”

Reddick will race in his first championship four Sunday against reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney, two-time NASCAR champion Joey Logano and William Byron, who is making his second consecutive appearance in the title race. The crown will go to the driver who finishes the highest among the championship four.

On media day this week, Reddick seemed to be the most tense of the four contenders. It didn't help when he was the slowest of the championship four in Friday practice and then he qualified 10th Saturday — only higher than contender Blaney, who qualified 17th.

“I know it’s championship weekend — I don’t know what the right word is — I’d say I'm calm, focused. There’s a lot on the line certainly,” said Reddick, who had yet to receive an expected pep talk from Jordan. “I know we’ll catch up between now and when we strap in the car. Obviously we’re here now. A lot of the preparation is done. There’s still a good bit of time, so plenty of time to think about little things. But largely I think a lot of the preparation is done, the car is loaded. I feel good about what we’ve done getting ready for this weekend.”

His tone was the complete opposite of Team Penske teammates Blaney and Logano, who have a shot at giving team owner Roger Penske a third consecutive Cup championship. Penske is rolling into Phoenix fresh off last weekend's sports car World Endurance Championship and another sports car title in IMSA.

Blaney is trying to become the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 through 2010, and Logano is trying to become the only active three-time Cup champion in NASCAR. Logano only made it to the finale when he was reinstated to the playoffs after initially being eliminated in the second round. He earned the spot back when Alex Bowman failed inspection.

“I’ve always thought internally to myself, I sit around, ‘How do you make Roger proud?’” Blaney said. "That’s my only goal in my racing life for the last 12 years, is how do I make Roger proud because he’s given me my life. Bluntly, at the end of the day, it’s win races and win championships, bring him things that he hasn’t done before. It’s a very small list of things that he hasn’t done in motorsports.

“We have a chance to do it for him. It’s just great to be in a position to where we can do it, have two cars that can do it. There always is pressure because this is a big moment,” Blaney continued. “But pressure is fine. It means you care when you feel pressure and you’re anxious about things. It means you give a crap about what you’re doing. It’s how do you respond to that and how do you kind of use it to drive you. It would be great to add another one. It would be a heck of an end of the year for RP.”

Byron is back in the championship finale for the second consecutive year but his inclusion is somewhat shrouded in controversy. NASCAR this week punished fellow Chevrolet drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon for manipulating last week's qualifying race at Martinsville Speedway to ensure Byron earned the final spot in the championship over Christopher Bell.

Bell complained Saturday he was cheated out of a shot at the championship, but NASCAR has insisted the four drivers in the title race are deserving.

Rudy Fugle, crew chief for Byron at Hendrick Motorsports, defended his driver's position in the finale, noting he won three races this year including the Daytona 500.

“We have three wins this year, which is as many as a lot of drivers. Only a couple have more than that,” Fugle said. “Scored more points than anybody else in the playoffs. I feel like our team is peaking at the right time. I think we’re competition and well-deserving to go race for a championship on Sunday.”

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Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press