NASCAR Insider’s Reality Check Confirms 23XI Racing’s Place in the Big Three

23XI Racing, which was struggling for consistency last season, has set new records this season, with Tyler Reddickleading the pack. Frankly, no one expected this kind of performance from the team, especially Jeff Gluck, who finally had to agree with people.

NASCAR insider admits 23XI Racing’s dominance

“Clearly, this [23XI Racing] is one of the big three teams,” Jeff Gluck recently said to Jordan Bianchi. Understandably, Reddick’s initial victory at Daytona seemed to have come from a massive chance as the ‘Big One’ toward the end gave him the advantage. However, when he continued his winning streak at Atlanta and COTA, setting a new NASCAR record, he was officially in the books as one of the strongest contenders this season.

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“We’re a quarter way through the entire season, and we’re much more than that, obviously, through the regular season. And he’s got a 105-point lead,” Gluck added.

Considering the Playoff format this season, this 105-point lead is a massive advantage for Reddick and the Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin-led operation. The team has been competing since the 2021 season, and this seems to be its breakthrough season.

Further, we need to address Toyota’s dominance. While Hendrick Motorsportsusually dominates with its #5 and #9 teams on the grid, Chevrolet modified its body, which apparently led to a downfall in performance this season. Meanwhile, Toyota capitalized on this and became the dominant force on the grid.

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While this success fulfills a purpose Denny Hamlin has long chased for his team, the timing might be a bit too early for his own championship ambitions.

Is 23XI’s success hampering Hamlin’s 2026 run?

Hamlin commits to putting 23XI Racing at the front of the grid. Shortly after Reddick’s Daytona victory, he revealed his aim of taking down the current ‘Big 3’ on the grid in the future.

“We just felt like we were the next team. Like the next, we’re the next elite team. We’re done with that,” he said on the Actions Detrimental podcast. “We’re trying to infiltrate that, the old guard that is taking over the sport over the last few decades from their commitment, obviously, their heritage of knowing their winning pedigree.”

This sounds like an impossible task, but 23XI is doing just that. Reddick has outperformed Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, and Hendrick Motorsports in most races. In fact, at the Kansas Speedway, he overtook Hamlin and Kyle Larsonin the race’s last moments. But is that hurting Hamlin’s championship contention? Possibly.

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Hamlin missed the title on the last lap at Phoenix last year and wanted to redeem himself this season. He has a decent pace, too, with the victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway proving to be a massive advantage. However, his own driver in the #45 Toyota is proving to be a hurdle in his championship run.

As Gluck pointed out, Reddick is leading the standings with a massive gap on Hamlin in second place. So even though the team is delivering a breathtaking performance, it is quite possible that the JGR driver would have wanted it to happen a bit later—perhaps after he had hung up his helmet with a title to his name.