Tyler Reddick addresses Michael Jordan’s interaction with son while celebrating Daytona 500

Tyler Reddick addressed some of the criticism Michael Jordan has received for an interaction with the NASCAR driver’s young son while celebrating their Daytona 500 victory.

After Jordan’s 23XI racing team settled an antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December, they opened the 2026 Cup Series schedule with their driver, Tyler Reddick, winning the Daytona 500. And as Jordan was celebrating the massive achievement in Victory Lane, cameras showed him pinching Reddick’s son, Beau, on the lower back and brushing his leg.

The clip went viral, with some calling Jordan’s interaction with the six-year-old inappropriate, while others defended it as a harmless moment.

Monday afternoon, Reddick joined The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio. And at the end of the interview, Smith asked Reddick about the criticism Jordan has received.

“From my perspective, I’ve gotten to know Michael and his family very well over the years I’ve been here with 23XI, and I don’t see what other people see when it comes to this,” Reddick said to dismiss the controversy. “For me, it’s a huge moment; this is the biggest moment of my career.

“It’s a huge moment for my family and for his family, and I just put that off to the side and think about the look on (Michael Jordan’s wife) Yvette’s face and the whole family and his whole group when they got to victory lane too, and just how happy everybody was celebrating together. So, that’s where I’m at with it.”

Jordan is known to have a close relationship with Reddick and his family. He even carried Beau to Victory Lane after the Daytona 500 win. Others have noted that Beau’s shirt was wet after getting ice water dumped on him by Tyler Reddick during their celebration, and the six-time NBA champion was just trying to get ice off the six-year-old. Either way, any controversy around Jordan interacting with Beau at the Daytona 500 seems to be an overreaction.