Redick looks to make the most of the unfortunate circumstances at the start of the 23XI draft

With Kurt Busch retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition, Tyler Reddick will head to 23XI Racing a year early.

At the start of the season, Reddick will take over the No. 45 Toyota that Busch drove. He will be Bubba Wallace’s teammate.

“The circumstances that made the spot available are very unfortunate, but I’m very excited to start my journey with 23XI Racing a year early,” Reddick tweeted after Busch’s announcement.

Reddick was still under contract with Childress for next season, but 23XI Racing and Richard Childress Racing agreed to allow Reddick to move early.

Childress initially said he would put Reddick in a third charter car next season. However, it wouldn’t be with the team and crew chief that Redick is currently working with, as Randall Burnett and the group will begin their work with Kyle Busch. which was signed by the organization in September.

“Richard Childress Racing has agreed to release Tyler Reddick to compete in 23XI in 2023,” RCR said in a statement. “With Kyle Busch coming to RCR next year, we believe it is in our mutual interest to focus on building successful programs for the future.

“RCR and Tyler have had great success together and everyone at RCR wishes him well.”

Redick joined Childress in 2019 and promptly won an Xfinity Series championship. A year later, he moved to the Cup Series with the program driving the No.8 Chevrolet.

Reddick, 26, won three races and made the playoffs for the first time. He was eliminated in the first round.

“We look forward to competing with Tyler in the four weeks remaining in the season and look forward to him joining our team after that,” 23XI Racing said in a statement.