With Denny Hamlin not stopping, Tyler Reddick recently revealed how he feels about the ongoing rivalry developing with his 23XI boss. He admitted the pair have been racing hard against each other but have also been constantly assisting each other to improve.

Speaking about their relationship, Reddick explained, “We do a really good job of keeping it an open book during the week, during the race weekend, and obviously we get on the racetrack, we're gonna battle really hard.”

The No. 45 driver then went on to detail why, despite both drivers leading the pack near the front, they have raced so little head-to-head.

“Unfortunately, I mean, the last two weekends, I didn't get to battle with him at all, just with the circumstances. You know, at Nashville, we took four when they took two, and kind of was able to jump ahead of us, so I didn't get to race with him there,” Reddick said.

The 23XI driver then went on to mention Michigan, where he had hoped to race Hamlin but circumstances prevented the same. Reddick added, “And then, you know, here in Michigan, this past weekend, you know, we were up front, kind of in position, and, you know, just got collected.”

At Michigan, Reddick became a victim of a massive multi-car wreck on a Lap 83 restart that was triggered by Carson Hocevar bumping John Hunter Nemechek, which collected many other cars.

As of now, both Reddick and Hamlin seem to be gunning for the championship. Let’s take a look at where the drivers currently stand.

Michigan win cuts deep into Reddick’s championship advantage

The battle for the 2026 Cup Series championship seems to have intensified further after the Michigan race. The leader is still Reddick, who holds the points lead with 669 points and five victories, while Hamlin now has three.

However, the incident in Michigan has taken a dent out of his championship ambitions.

Entering the weekend, the 23XI Racing driver had a 97-point cushion over Hamlin. But at Michigan, the crash handed Reddick his first DNF of the season. Hamlin then managed to take victory after starting from the tail end, that too, a second consecutive one after Nashville. As a result, the deficit now stands at just 51 points.

Now, as we head into Pocono, a track that heavily favors Hamlin given the record he has there, the odds will definitely be in the boss' favor. One more win for the No. 11 and one more disastrous result for Reddick could see a lead change for the first time in the series.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason