Kevin Harvick sounds off on impact NASCAR vs. 23XI lawsuit has on Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace

Over the past calendar year, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace have been tasked with performing at a high level on the racetrack with so much happening off it within their organization. 23XI Racing is currently suing NASCAR on the grounds that it is a monopoly.

Obviously, team owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan and others are heavily involved in the lawsuit. Reddick and Wallace are on the outside, but they still have had to answer questions about the lawsuit this season. More than anything, Kevin Harvick believes it has to be “annoying” for both drivers.

“I think that the two drivers are probably annoyed more than anything, because they just want to race. They signed up to race, they signed up to go out there and do their job and they’re having to answer questions about stuff that they don’t want to answer questions about,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “It is a distraction. It’s not the same distraction for Denny Hamlin as it is for Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, because they’re not vested in the ownership of the team and restructuring the league. So, at this point, it’s annoying, I’m sure, that they have to deal with it.

“I don’t know the conversations behind closed doors that they’re having, but they don’t have the same motivation that Denny Hamlin has to fight this fight in the middle of everything with everything that’s going on. They want to do their job because they signed up and they’re taking another year out of their career to go out and drive the car and try to perform and try to win a championship. I have to imagine it’s somewhat annoying but when your cars run like they did this weekend, that’s all you care about.”

Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace got it right at Darlington

If Reddick and Wallace are distracted, you wouldn’t know it based on their performance in Sunday’s Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway. Both spent the majority of the night racing inside the top 10 — Reddick finished runner-up to Chase Briscoe, Wallace finished sixth.

Reddick, winless on the season, went from playoff bubble to fourth in the standings in just one race. Wallace, meanwhile, is comfortably sitting fifth.

So, for all of the drama off the racetrack, 23XI appears to be firing on all cylinders on it at the right time. Reddick and Wallace have the speed to go on a long postseason run, we’ll see if it’s in the cards for them this season.