NASCAR: Tyler Reddick out at Richard Childress Racing?

With Kyle Busch set to join Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, what does the future hold for Tyler Reddick?

It’s officially official: two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is set to leave Joe Gibbs Racing after 15 years behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota and reunite with Chevrolet by driving the #8 car for Richard Childress Racing.

The addition of Busch creates an interesting situation for the two-car team, as both of their drivers, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, are under contract for next year.

Dillon is signed as the driver of the #3 Chevrolet through 2025, while Reddick, who currently drives the #8 Chevrolet, is under contract through 2023, prior to his move to 23XI Racing and Toyota in 2024.

With Busch being the third driver on a two-car team, there has been some speculation as to what might happen with Reddick.

Ever since Reddick signed with 23XI Racing back in July, the move that ultimately led to Richard Childress pursuing Busch for 2023, there has been a feeling that the relationship between him and his current team would not continue past 2022.

While Childress has insisted that he remains under contract through 2023, he was not shy about expressing his displeasure with how the Reddick to 23XI Racing situation unfolded.

That displeasure reached new heights when he literally told Reddick just before the Busch announcement that he would not be continuing in the #8 Chevrolet next year.

Along with the announcement of Busch, it was revealed that Richard Childress Racing had acquired a third charter to run a third entry for Reddick next year.

However, it wasn’t revealed who previously possessed the charter, and Childress’s response when asked about why he felt the need to retain Reddick in a third car didn’t sound super convincing.

Is it possible that the whole “third charter” is a bluff just to try to force an early buyout? Could Reddick move to 23XI Racing a year early?

Given the uncertainty surrounding Kurt Busch’s future as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms he suffered in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway back in July, the possibility of Reddick being in the #45 Toyota next year has been floated.

However, Busch is still striving to be back, and the team are behind him 100%. Additionally, team co-owner Denny Hamlin has said that a contingency plan is in place in case he can’t, and that plan apparently does not involve Reddick.

Plus, they never signed Reddick with the intention of landing him in 2023 to begin with, even though an expansion of their own hasn’t been ruled out.

There are other Richard Childress Racing-affiliated teams which have open seats and could technically give Reddick a landing spot in 2023 as sort of a “stopgap” before he moves to 23XI Racing in 2024.

For now, Reddick looks set to remain at Richard Childress Racing, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that changed — and if it is perhaps revealed that they don’t actually have a third charter. After all, with Reddick set to leave after 2023, why expand for just one year? Is a three-car team really a long-term goal?