The 23XI team had a tough night when they were at Martinsville last year. NASCAR hit them with penalties after the race on November 3, 2024, after allegations of race manipulation. Fines of $100,000 for Bubba Wallace’s team came down, plus suspensions for key crew members like Wallace’s former crew chief, Bootie Barker, and long-time spotter Freddie Kraft. They could’ve appealed, but they chose not to. It’s been hard on them. However, don’t let this distract you from how good Bubba Wallace is at short tracks. His prowess has him imparting knowledge to his teammate, Tyler Reddick.
Reddick is rolling into Martinsville Speedway with a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove. The NASCAR Cup Series driver knows he’s yet to master this short track. His teammate, Bubba Wallace, and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin have been showing him the ropes, and he’s honest about it. Reddick’s not pretending that he’s got Martinsville figured out. He’s leaning on Hamlin and Wallace, taking their advice and trying to turn his frustration into something big.
Tyler Reddick looks to teammates for solutions
Martinsville’s been frustrating for Tyler Reddick, to say the least. In his 10 Cup races at the track, he has just two top-10 finishes, with five finishes outside the top-20. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin has won there five times, and while Wallace has no cup wins at the track, he does boast two Truck Series wins at the Paperclip. Tyler knows he’s behind them here, and it bugs him. The tight turns and nonstop pace throw him off, but he’s got new ideas this time, thanks to his teammates.
Ahead of the Martinsville race on Sunday, Peter Stratta asked Tyler Reddick, “Denny and Bubba have said how much you’ve helped them on road courses. Is it kind of the opposite here? They’re helping you learn this place better?” Reddick’s road course prowess is easily above and beyond anyone at 23XI Racing at the moment. He has 3 wins with an average finish of 12.0 on road courses, dwarfing Wallace’s 22.7 average finish. However, he knows his key to short track success is in his teammate’s advice, as Wallace has won a short track race, albeit a Truck race, it’s something Reddick is yet to do.
Tyler Reddick didn’t hold back, “I mean, they’ve definitely had a lot of success here. I know Bubba really wants to win here, but I mean, Denny’s success, Bubba’s speed. They’ve definitely helped me understand some of the things that should just make sense but haven’t in the past. I think where I’m at now, their advice always is helpful, but I need to go out there and find the feel, find the understanding, you know, where it should all be in a race car. You have to get to that point where it starts to make sense every single lap, and at times, I feel like that’s been the case.”
With Hamlin’s know-how and Wallace’s grit, plus the team’s bond holding strong, he’s got what he needs. A significant improvement was seen in April 2023, when Reddick finished top 5 in both stages after qualifying sixth at Martinsville. However, it only resulted in a 22nd-place finish. A comparative look at their stats shows that in Tyler Reddick’s 10 Cup races at Martinsville, he boasts an average finish of 17.8, while Wallace’s 13 races average is 17.2, and Denny’s 38 races sit at 11.0 with five wins. However, like Bubba Wallace, Reddick has seen slightly more success in other cars here; it’s the Next-Gen car that has caused major issues.
.@TylerReddick explains the lack of comfort he’s had in years past @MartinsvilleSwy, and how heavily he’s leaned on teammates @dennyhamlin and @BubbaWallace to learn the Next Gen Car here. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/gtDxUyfGzb
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) March 29, 2025
Reddick continued, “You know, when I ran a truck here, I felt like it was pretty close to where you need to, be to run good. When we ran the Gen 6 Cup car here, I felt like I was, you know, a race or two away from kind of understanding. The next year car here was quite a bit different than what the Cup or Truck racing was like for me here, so it’s just taking time to understand that I think we’re close to it, but it certainly is more frustrating to come here and not really perform up to the level that I feel like this car is capable of.” added Reddick further.
In April 2021, during the penultimate Martinsville race in the Gen 6 car, Reddick put up a strong showing, finishing eighth after starting 13th, and picked up points in stage 2 as well. However, since 2022 (the Next-Gen era), Reddick has seen a string of finishes outside the top 15, which was only broken last April when he finished 7th here. During his Truck Series runs, he showed more promise, finishing in the top 10 on three consecutive runs between 2014 and 2015. Breaking that string of Martinsville misery was crucial for Reddick. His 34th-place finish during last year’s playoff race can be written off to an extent as he had just qualified for the Championship 4 at Homestead the previous week.
23XI co-owner has a suggestion to NASCAR after Martinsville wrecks
At Martinsville, it’s chaos out there—cautions piling up, tempers flaring, and Denny Hamlin’s had enough. “Martinsville is a track that could use a ‘avoidable contact’ penalty,” Hamlin posted on X during the Xfinity race on Saturday. The Xfinity Series race was a mess, echoing last night’s Truck Series wreck-fest. He’s fed up with the bumper-car madness, and honestly, who can blame him? Hamlin’s not shy as he’s calling for change, loud and clear.
The Xfinity race saw a last-lap wreck fest as the overtime white flag leader, Taylor Gray, ended up finishing 28th. Austin Hill, who was fifth when Gray was spun out at Turn 4, got a lucky break and ended up winning the race. This is how Martinsville has been in recent times, and even Richard Childress Racing’s Xfinity star Jesse Love said after the race, “That’s why I don’t enjoy coming here all the time.”
Martinsville has been like this for a long time. Remember 2017 when Hamlin wrecked Elliott’s shot at glory? Elliott was fuming at the JGR #11, saying after the race, “Got punted from behind, and wrecked in turn three leading the race so I don’t know what his problem was. It was unnecessary. I hadn’t raced him dirty all day long.” Hamlin’s response? “Well, he said I wrecked, and obviously, Ray Charles saw that,” he said with a grin, calling Elliott as blind as the legendary musician.
So, what’s next? Will NASCAR listen? Will Elliott and Hamlin clash again? Tomorrow’s race could be a powder keg. Grab your snacks, folks; a spectacle at the Paperclip awaits this Sunday.
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