Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series, has been voted by the NMPA press membership as the NMPA Pocono Spirit Award First Quarter recipient.
After a winless 2025 season and a medical scare involving his newborn son, Reddick has rebounded on track winning five of the first nine races in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. His season highlights include winning the 2026 Daytona 500 and becoming the first driver in the history of NASCAR to win the first 3 races of a season in the Cup Series.
Achieving this success on track while caring for his infant son Beau and family has been inspiring of this well-deserved recognition for Reddick, the second time he has received a quarterly NMPA Pocono Spirit Award.
“For me, it’s an honor to receive the award but none of that would have been possible without great support from my family, my wife as we were getting through all those things and back to a normal life,” Reddick said. “It’s just the great support of family, close friends and so many people in this racing industry that helped in many ways throughout this whole process.
“A lot of people went above and beyond and none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for them and how my wife managed the emotions and stress of the whole thing”
With his first quarter recognition, Reddick is now eligible for the year-end NMPA Pocono Spirit Award, which is also voted on by the NMPA press membership. It will be presented at the annual convention.
Other nominees for the first quarter award were: Haiden Deegan, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Myatt Snider.
Established in 1992 and supported by Pocono Raceway, the Spirit Award is designed to recognize character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship and contributions to motorsports. It is also meant to acknowledge competitors who have overcome illness, injury or tragedy to return to racing.
— National Motorsports Press Association —