In just three and a half years, 23XI Racing — owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan — has gone from barely existing to becoming a title-contending Nascar Cup Series team.

On Monday, Tyler Reddick continued his streak as the hottest driver in Nascar, claiming the victory at Michigan International Speedway. With two wins through 24 races, Reddick already surpassed his top five and top 10 total from a year ago. He now has 11 top fives and 17 top 10s, with 472 laps led in the No. 45 Toyota.

“It’s been a really fun year from that aspect this year, watching us climb up through the rankings and the points standings, if you will, continue to have really solid races,” Reddick said in his post-race press conference. “I think we’ve done just a good job of taking what the days will give us and getting good finishes out of it, not making critical mistakes.”

To race for Michael Jordan — the Basketball Hall of Famer — is pushing the entire 23XI Racing team to perform stronger. Teammate Bubba Wallace was also competing for the win in Monday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 until he was caught up in a wreck.

“Over his career, what he brings to the table to motivate us, something that you can’t buy. It’s a great asset for us to have,” Reddick said of Jordan.

The growth of 23XI Racing is almost unheard of. This team, along with Trackhouse Racing, have excelled in a short period of time with the Next Gen car. However, Trackhouse Racing could grow quicker because it absorbed Chip Ganassi Racing. While 23XI Racing does have an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, which Hamlin himself competes for, the team is showing its true capabilities.

It started with Wallace’s recruitment, becoming the organization’s first driver in 2021. Wallace has won two races with the team and is currently 16 points outside of the playoff grid. However, he is also having a strong season and will likely surpass his career-bests in every category this year. He has already tied his career-high in top fives (five) and is one short of his 10 top 10s (currently at nine).

The team also recruited veteran Kurt Busch, who won a race in 2022. But his career ended prematurely after a head injury at Pocono Raceway that season. The injury created room for Reddick, who was driving for Richard Childress Racing at the time. He was in the midst of a breakout year, already having won his first Cup race when 23XI Racing signed him, and then he won two more events.

Reddick was originally set to join 23XI Racing in 2024, but Childress let him depart the team in 2023 as he signed Kyle Busch to take over the No. 8 Chevrolet. Essentially, this gave 23XI Racing an extra season to build a winning culture with Reddick, a two-time Xfinity Series champion.

“I saw week in and week out, racing against both their cars, the speed they bring to the table, the culture that they have at 23XI,” Reddick said. “It’s important to me. It takes everything to have a really good team. I just saw how fast they were building and just the rate of progression that they were on. I knew there’s a lot of things that play into it, but one factor for sure is performance on the racetrack.

“I knew that as time would continue to go on, they would continue to climb. I feel like we’re really seeing it now, a lot of weeks. I also just wanted to sink my feet into ground that I know I’d be there for a while, a number of years, and build a program, build our way to the top. Felt really good about that with 23XI.”

Now, after the Michigan victory, Reddick is the regular season championship points leader. If he can hold off Chase Elliott, Hamlin and Kyle Larson, he will receive an extra 15 points per round in the playoffs.

Reddick leads Nascar currently in several categories, including most top fives, top 10s, average start and average finish.

As the playoffs loom, everyone in Nascar has their eyes on Reddick, who may be the driver to bring Michael Jordan a Nascar championship trophy.

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