Tyler Reddick and his family went through a tough time during the second half of 2025. The Cup Series driver’s grandson, Rookie, had to undergo surgery to remove a kidney after being diagnosed with a tumor that was increasing the stress on his heart. In an interview after winning the Daytona 500 on Sunday, he explained how the NASCAR community helped him during that time.
Rookie was born on May 25, 2025. It was toward the end of September that doctors at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte confirmed that he had a tumor in his chest and that it was compressing his renal artery and vein. This made his heart work harder than normal, and was the reason he was showing signs of heart failure.
Advertisement
Any parent in that situation would be terrified, and Reddick was too. Fortunately, he received support from his friends. He said, “Michael and everyone at 23XI Racing basically told me, ‘Listen. If you have to walk away and not run another race…do whatever you have to do.’ Having everyone’s support throughout the process was incredible.
The support wasn’t limited to his team. He continued, “When my wife was going there, Rick Hendrick and his whole group were doing everything they could to speed up the process for Rookie. Joey Logano, a fellow competitor of mine, was reaching out, doing everything he could to get Beau and let him go spend time with Joey’s kids while we took care of that.”
He joked that the support he received from the NASCAR community throughout the deal was incredible. In the end, all that matters is that the boy is safe and recovers well. The icing on the cake is that Rookie started crawling for the first time during the Daytona 500 weekend.
Reddick was also gloating about it. Winning the Harley J. Earl Trophy and celebrating it with his family after enduring such scary battles must be a memorable moment for him. The season has just started in the Chase format, and it’s off to the best possible start.
Advertisement
But winning the championship will require consistency at this same level throughout the year. Reddick is all too capable of producing this. No doubt, Rookie wouldn’t mind visiting more Victory Lanes with his dad either.
The position How NASCAR team owners and drivers supported Tyler Reddick after his son’s unfortunate health condition appeared first on The rush to sport.
