Michael Jordan’s 23 XI racing crew and Joe Gibbs Racing received horrible news Friday. The No. 45 car driver by Tyler Reddick and the No. 54 car driven by Ty Gibbs, failed inspection on Friday night and lost pit-stall selection before Sunday’s race at Darlington.
That’s not all the bad news the team received. According to NASCAR.com, Reddick also lost crew chief Billy Scott for the remainder of the race weekend. Veteran Dave Rogers, 23XI’s performance director, was listed as the interim crew chief for Reddick on an updated Cup Series entry list Friday night.
For Reddick’s team, this will be the second consecutive week that the No. 45 team failed twice in pre-race inspection. Michael Hobson, the No. 45 car chief, was also ejected before last week’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Car chief Nate Bellows was ejected from the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team. Reddick was one of the favorites to win the race Sunday but this is yet another setback for the team.
Gibbs also had a good chance of winning. It seems that NASCAR has been a little bit stricter these days when it comes to its rules. Reddick hasn’t been the only one being hit hard.
Kyle Busch was also hit with a major penalty during a race a few weeks ago that may have cost him. If Joe Gibbs Racing and 23 XI don’t correct these issues soon, they are going to continue to suffer the consequences.
