Is Tyler Reddick’s decline the most surprising story of 2025 NASCAR?

Tyler Reddick advanced to the playoffs to fight for the coveted title in the following rounds. However, this advancement is down to mere points as last year's regular season champion hasn't won a race in 2025 so far, leading many to question his fall from grace.

Last year, the 23XI Racing driver upped his game by claiming the regular season championship and remained a contender for the championship till the finale at the Phoenix Raceway. Though he was the lowest finisher among the final four, his pace had suggested that he would remain a driver who would trouble rivals in 2025.

While this narrative stood strong at the season opener in Daytona, where he finished second, this pace was soon lost in the following rounds. Despite scoring a pole position in COTA, he was only able to convert it to a top-three finish by the end of the race.

Moreover, in the following weekend, the Corning-born driver did not make the task easy for himself as he was caught speeding in the pitlane at Phoenix, and his crew soon ran into problems in the upcoming race weekends.

The 45 car failed inspection at the Kansas Speedway, while he drove through multiple pit boxes in Atlanta, leaving him at the rear of the field. Despite claiming a respectable fourth-place result at the chequered flag, Reddick was still deprived of the closures required to take wins, a task which he was easily able to fulfil 12 months ago.

Talking about how this year has been filled with a lack of execution, the 29-year-old said (via NASCAR's official website):

"Story of our year. Just messy, not executing well, just filled with mistakes. So yeah, we got very fortunate when the 48 had problems, but yeah, we’ll try and clean it up going into Darlington."

Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman are the only two drivers to have made it into the postseason without scoring any race wins this year.

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Tyler Reddick made it to the playoffs through the skin of his teeth

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick - Source: Imagn

While making it into the playoffs seems to be the major task that Tyler Reddick fulfilled, it so nearly went wrong for the last year's regular season champion at Daytona. He collided with Todd Gilland in the early phase of the race and put himself on the back foot.

On the other hand, with havoc wrecking the front end of the field and a red flag taking place, his spot was saved by a thin margin, as Reddick himself claimed that he was in a tough spot in an interview with Frontstretch:

"Unfortunately for the No. 48, the crash and carnage that happened right after our incident is what pretty much saved us. Obviously, we didn’t get a new winner, but it’s tough to be in the spot, nonetheless. Made the night really hard for us."

Reddick sits 14th in the standings ahead of the first race of the playoffs, hoping to leapfrog into the final four by the end of the season.