Tyler Riddick and RCR weigh after an early split

Kurt Busch revealed on October 15 that Tyler Riddick will replace him for 23XI Racing starting in the 2023 Cup Series season. Now, Reddick and Richard Childress Racing are considering the early split.

“Richard Childress Racing has agreed to release Tyler Reddick to drive for the 23XI in 2023,” The team 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 a great deal of success together, and everyone at RCR wishes him well.”

This statement changes the conversation that took place when Kyle Busch announced he would be joining RCR in 2023. Team owner Richard Childress said on September 13 that he would move Reddick to a third entry that would feature a charter. Now, however, RCR will move forward by two teams as Reddick takes the helm of the #45 Toyota Camry TRD.

Reddick was not involved in contract talks

GTTyler Riddick prepares for a race at Richmond Raceway.

Pre-race news emerged at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway that 23XI Racing and Richard Childress Racing have reached an agreement regarding Reddick. The California native will be able to transfer to Denny Hamlin’s team a year earlier than expected.

Riddick noted on October 15 that he had no part in these discussions. RCR and 23XI Racing hammered out the details while they focused on preparing for the trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. They’ve taken this step, removing the possibility that Reddick will have a “lame duck” season.

It’s nice to know — like, hey, that’s what the future holds,” Riddick told reporters. “I’m going to get there earlier than I planned and start working on those things that I and a lot of the proprietors there talked about wanting to do and why we wanted to get together. We just started doing it a year ago and that’s very exciting for me.”

“I’m excited about this opportunity, but I understand and I know — I’m excited in a strange way for all the things that we’re going to show in front of us. In a weird way, it’s always been really fun to put so much work into something like what I did at RCR and see how much it comes out of it. So, I Really excited to do it again and do it at 23XI.”

Reddick will first wrap up the 2022 season

While Reddick will move to 23XI Racing a year earlier than expected, he will first take care of some unfinished business. He will wrap up the remaining four races of his tenure at Richard Childress Racing, and will attempt to win his fourth race of the year.

Riddick has already positioned himself to pursue this goal. Follow the big announcement by winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He will lead the field to the green on a track where five of the top 10 finals will start.

Once Reddick has finished his remaining races with the RCR, he will be preparing for a major move. He will transfer to 23XI Racing and become a Bubba Wallace teammate. It will also help solidify the Toyota Racing lineup that has faced many questions throughout the 2022 season.

“This whole year has been a rollercoaster for Toyota,” said David Wilson, president of TRD USA, according to NASCAR Media. “We’ve been in the news cycle a lot. And at first emotion [of Reddick’s arrival] It is just convenience. It’s like, “Well, I think we can focus on racing for a few weeks and not worry about the next announcement, and not worry about the next question.” So just sorting it all out was a relief. Obviously, I think that was the natural solution for Tyler and for all parties. It gives us all a lot of peace of mind.”