What Happened to Tyler Reddick’s Son? Inside Rookie’s Health Battle and Daytona Comeback
Tyler Reddick’s NASCAR comeback followed months of fear, surgery, and his son's sudden medical recovery.
Published Feb. 16 2026, 11:01 a.m. ET
After claiming NASCAR’s biggest trophy, Tyler Reddick’s year is off to a solid start. However, a year ago, his life looked very different. His infant son faced a terrifying medical crisis that put racing into perspective.
On Feb. 15, the 23XI Racing driver won the Daytona 500 for the Michael Jordan-owned organization. The victory launched his redemption season in the loudest way possible. Behind the celebration stood his wife, Alexa DeLeon Reddick, who had spent months navigating a frightening health battle involving their baby boy, Rookie.
What happened to Tyler Reddick’s son?
Rookie developed serious health complications that doctors later linked to a tumor in his chest, according to reporting from ESPN. He was hospitalized at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte and spent time in the cardiovascular ICU. The family said the tumor caused major concerns involving his heart.
The situation went public in the fall of 2025, when Alexa shared an update explaining that doctors discovered a tumor in Rookie’s chest. “Rookie has a tumor that’s ‘choking’ the renal vein & renal artery,” Alex wrote. “Telling the heart ‘Hey I’m not getting enough blood… pump harder.’ Causing the enlarged heart. He will need the entire kidney removed as it is not believed to be functioning any longer. He will undergo open surgery to remove his right kidney.”
According to the Associated Press, Rookie’s condition improved by the time the Daytona 500 arrived. He attended the race with his mom and was spotted crawling around the infield after Tyler’s win.
Tyler Reddick has been very open about life and his career.
Tyler has always shared pieces of his personal life with fans. That includes the family he’s building away from the track. According to USA Network, Tyler and Alex tied the knot on July 25, 2024, in Lake Geneva, Wis., after getting engaged in late May 2023. They share an older son, Beau, and welcomed Rookie in 2025. Leading up to Rookie’s arrival, 23XI Racing reported in April 2025 that Alexa was expecting the baby in about a month.
While 2026 started strong, 2025 tested him. Tyler went winless that year. After breaking through at Daytona, he admitted the drought forced the team to regroup.
“For us to go on that drought, it made us look hard in the mirror, and I am really proud of everyone on our Chumba Casino Toyota Camry,” he told NASCAR. “Worked really hard in the offseason, and there were many points in this race where we weren’t making decisions we wanted to, but we just reset, and every opportunity we got to reset, we went back at it.”
Tyler won in his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota and led only the final lap, getting a key push from teammate Riley Herbst in the closing yards. The finish got messy when a late block triggered a wreck behind him, but Tyler cleared the trouble and held on to win by 0.308 seconds over Ricky Stenhouse Jr.