By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The flipside to Tyler Reddick taking Michael Jordan to victory lane in NASCAR’s first three races this season is teammate Bubba Wallace feels a bit left out of the euphoria surrounding 23XI Racing.
Reddick set a NASCAR record in winning the first three races of the season, the Daytona 500, at Atlanta and last weekend on the road course in Austin, Texas, with Jordan in attendance, and the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer will be at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday when Reddick goes for four in a row.
The success has 23XI Racing buzzing and Reddick and Wallace are 1-2 in the Cup Series standings. Wallace can find solace in how he’s running — he had chances to win at Daytona and Atlanta — but is still disappointed the wins have gone solely to Reddick.
The difference between the Toyota teammates, Wallace joked, is that Reddick inherited the mythical lucky horseshoe Jimmie Johnson had for seven Cup championships.
“You know, Tyler’s been driving his (butt) off, simple as that, I couldn’t be more proud of him and the way he’s turned around from his (winless) season from last year,” Wallace said. “It’s been pretty cool to witness that. I wish it was our team.”
Reddick can empathize with Wallace and noted he had a tinge of jealousy last season when Wallace won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis as Reddick was slumping.
“I’ve experienced it other places that I’ve raced and feel like I contended to win, didn’t win and teammates did, so I understand where he probably would be with that part of it,” Reddick said. “I think he’s doing a good job of remaining positive and it’s a good start to the year for him.”
Reddick and Wallace are winless at Phoenix. Reddick was third in 2023 and 2024, while Wallace has an average finish of 20th and failed to finish either race at Phoenix last year.
Alfredo gets the call
Anthony Alfredo has spent hundreds of hours over the past four years inside a racing simulator doing test work for Hendrick Motorsports.
That thankless job has finally led to a breakthrough opportunity driving in a Cup Series race for NASCAR’s winningest team. Alex Bowman will miss Sunday’s race and Alfredo was pulled from the bullpen to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet.
It will be Alfredo’s first Cup start of the season — he qualified for the Daytona 500 driving for tiny Beard Motorsports, but his car was disqualified and kicked out of the field. Alfredo has 43 career Cup starts for smaller teams so Sunday will be the best car he’s ever driven.
Bowman had to give up his seat during last weekend’s race in Texas and has since been diagnosed with vertigo. It’s left Alfredo with mixed feelings.
“It’s just weird, right? I don’t want to see anyone in the position Alex is in, so it’s hard for me to be excited,” Alfredo said. “That makes it certainly disappointing, because a lot of people are asking me how excited I am, and I’m not excited that I have to fill in for someone who’s not able to be in their own car this weekend.
“But it is, of course, a huge opportunity for me to go out there and do a good job and maybe turn some heads, but I don’t even feel like I have to prove anything to anybody. Honestly, I don’t think they would have picked me if they didn’t think I could do it right, so it’s not about that. I think it’s more going out there and just do what’s asked of me and doing a good job behind the wheel filling in.”
Cool suit failure
AJ Allmendinger had to be medically treated after last week’s race in Austin, Texas, when his cool suit failed and caused Allmendinger to overheat while driving.
He collapsed on pit road after exiting his car.
“Cool suits are a tough thing because they are not designed in our environment to fail,” said Brad Keselowski. “So when they fail, it’s fairly devastating.”
A cool suit is a specialized, liquid-cooled garment meant to prevent heat stroke and manage core temperatures in extreme environments. It circulates chilled water through tubes embedded in a shirt or vest, connected to a small cooler box.
William Byron said the suits can be hit-or-miss, and when one fails, it is miserable for the driver.
“Definitely when it works, it’s great. But I feel like there’s definitely a handful, if not more times, that it doesn’t work,” Byron said. “That shirt is very insulated. I was at a Martinsville test one time and was wearing it and didn’t turn it on for most of the day and just started to feel sick because just the way it insulates your body and kind of has the opposite effect when it’s not on.”
Byron teammate Kyle Larson said he was trying a different cooling system this weekend at Phoenix. He planned to use the version teammate Chase Elliott has been wearing in which a pad connects to the core and a fan pushes cool air in.
Odds and ends
Ryan Blaney, winner at Phoenix in November’s season finale, is the BetMGM favorite at +475. Blaney has 10 top-five finishes in 20 career starts here. … Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have led 56% of the laps — most of every team — in each of the past four races at Phoenix. But this season the organization has opened with an average finish of 21st, their worst opening three races since 2017. … All three Spire Motorsports cars are currently inside the top 10 in Cup points, while none of the 4 JGR cars is inside the top 16. JGR is suing Spire and former competition director Chris Gabehart in federal court.