With Kyle Busch set to join Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, where will Tyler Reddick end up?
Kyle Busch is set to join Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, it was revealed this past weekend following several months of speculation.
Busch is set to conclude a 15-year run with Joe Gibbs Racing as the driver of the #18 Toyota at the end of the 2022 season before making the move back to Chevrolet. He competed for Chevrolet when he competed for Hendrick Motorsports from 2005 to 2007.
But with Richard Childress Racing currently running a two-car operation, and Busch now being the third driver under contract to compete for the team next year, where will Tyler Reddick end up?
The team picked up an option in Reddick’s contract over the summer to retain his services for 2023, just before he announced that he announced that he had signed with 23XI Racing and Toyota for 2024. Could a split happen a year early?
Here are five possible landing spots for Reddick next year.
Tyler Reddick 2023 landing spots: No. 1 – Richard Childress Racing
As stated, Reddick remains under contract with Richard Childress Racing through the 2023 season, even though the team were not too happy when he announced in July that he had signed with 23XI Racing and Toyota for the 2024 season.
They have reiterated this even since his 23XI Racing deal was announced, though there are still those who believe that both sides would like to move on sooner rather than later.
It’s very possible that Busch drives a third car and Reddick does indeed remain with the team for another season. It’s entirely possible that Busch replaces Reddick in the #8 Chevrolet and Reddick drives a third car (presumably non-chartered) as well.
Whether or not the team acquire a charter for that third car for just one year would become an interesting topic of discussion, with Reddick set to leave after 2023 anyway and therefore no more than two charters needed for 2024, but they have fielded a third car in select races before.
But if they stay at two cars and Austin Dillon remains in the #3 Chevrolet, what happens to Reddick?
Tyler Reddick 2023 landing spots: No. 2 – 23XI Racing
While 23XI Racing never intended to have Tyler Reddick competing for them before the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, it could very well work out that way.
Team co-owner Denny Hamlin stated earlier this year that he would be pausing the organization’s growth until NASCAR’s business model changes, but he has reportedly been in talks about purchasing a third charter.
If a deal is completed for 2023, it would only make sense for Reddick to move to 23XI Racing and Toyota a year early, joining Bubba Wallace, who just signed a multi-year extension with the team, and Kurt Busch, whose deal runs through the end of the 2023 season.
But there is another scenario to consider. When it was announced that Reddick would be joining 23XI Racing in 2024, it wasn’t announced which car he would drive. However, comments from Busch shortly thereafter indicated that he was likely planning on retiring after next season.
Days later, Busch was left with concussion-like symptoms following a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway, and he hasn’t raced since. While nobody knows what his future holds, there are those who believe he could — and should — retire after the 2022 season instead.
If Busch doesn’t return in 2023, Reddick could move to the #45 Toyota in 2023 (or the #23 Toyota, if Bubba Wallace stays behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota). It’s hard to imagine that possibility being entirely rejected by anybody, with Richard Childress Racing’s apparent disgust from Reddick’s 23XI Racing announcement and their ensuing signing of Kyle Busch.
Tyler Reddick 2023 landing spots: No. 3 – Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing have an affiliation with Richard Childress Racing, which could make them somewhat of a dark horse option to land Tyler Reddick for just the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season before his impending move to 23XI Racing for 2024 if indeed Richard Childress Racing only run two cars next year.
It would be somewhat of a stopgap destination for the current driver of the #8 Chevrolet. Nothing has been confirmed about the Matt Kaulig-owned team’s driver lineup for the 2023 season, and although Justin Haley is expected to return for another year behind the wheel of the #31 Chevrolet, that announcement hasn’t yet been made.
As for the #16 Chevrolet, Kyle Busch had been rumored to land that ride, but that obviously isn’t happening anymore. That ride is currently split between Xfinity Series drivers Noah Gragson, A.J. Allmendinger, and Daniel Hemric.
Gragson, the only one of the three who doesn’t driver for Kaulig’s Xfinity Series program, has already signed with Petty GMS Motorsports for the 2023 Cup Series season, and promotions for Allmendinger and Hemric aren’t seen as likely, with the apparent plan being for them to continue competing full-time for the team at the sport’s second highest level.
Kaulig Racing recently announced that they will be making a Cup Series driver announcement on Wednesday, October 5. Will this simply be the confirmation of Haley, or will they announce a new driver for 2023 (or both)?
Tyler Reddick 2023 landing spots: No. 4 – Spire Motorsports
Piggybacking off of the last slide, Spire Motorsports could be considered an option for Tyler Reddick in somewhat of a “lame duck” year as well.
We know that Kaulig Racing have a driver announcement planned for next month, so unless they already know Tyler Reddick is going to be in one of their cars, which seems unlikely since they confirmed the announcement date well before it was reported that Kyle Busch planned to sign with Richard Childress Racing, he might not end up there in 2023.
That’s where Spire Motorsports could become an option, and for a similar reason.
Spire Motorsports are one of a handful of teams that have yet to make any confirmations about their 2023 lineup. Corey LaJoie has never spent more than two full seasons with a team, and while many would like to see him back behind the wheel of the #7 Chevrolet for a third year next year, there are no guarantees, and nothing has been hinted about his future.
As for the #77 Chevrolet, that ride is shared by several drivers, with Josh Bilicki serving as the driver in most events. Whether Spire Motorsports are set on keeping one car for a full-time driver and another for several part-time drivers is also yet to be determined.
Regardless, the vacancies are there to make this a possibility. Reddick probably wouldn’t be competing for much more than a few decent finishes in superspeedway races and maybe road course races in either one of these cars, but with a 23XI Racing all set up for 2024, perhaps it’s worth it just to keep him behind the wheel of a chartered car for 2023.
Tyler Reddick 2023 landing spots: No. 5 – Joe Gibbs Racing
Ty Gibbs is seen as a shoo-in for the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota once Kyle Busch departs the ride at the end of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, and that is probably what is going to happen.
But if there is any reason to pump the brakes on that — and there might be, given Joe Gibbs’s statement that he wanted Ty to run two full Xfinity Series before a full-time promotion to Cup — then Tyler Reddick could be considered a dark horse to land the ride.
If Richard Childress Racing can’t find a place for him in 2023 and can’t figure out a way to honor his contract, which they have confirmed themselves on multiple occasions does indeed run through next year after picking up an option this summer, perhaps Toyota could make a play for Reddick a year early.
We already semi-touched on this in the 23XI Racing slide. But if Kurt Busch returns and the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team remain at two cars, Joe Gibbs Racing could be an option.
Would it be silly for a driver to move to a powerhouse such as Joe Gibbs Racing knowing he’ll only be there for one year? Sure, just as silly as it would be for the team to make the signing.
But Reddick has already signed a multi-year deal with 23XI Racing and Toyota, so his future is secured through at least 2025. It’s not like he’d be competing solely to keep somebody’s seat warm.
With Reddick on a (no-more-than) one-year deal, this would also be a way to guarantee that Gibbs runs two full Xfinity Series seasons and then has a guaranteed Cup ride with his grandfather’s organization in 2024.
Wasn’t that the initial plan to begin with?
Where will Tyler Reddick end up in 2023? Will he complete the rest of his contract with Richard Childress Racing, or will Kyle Busch’s arrival result in him competing elsewhere? If elsewhere, where?