Tyler Reddick goes 2-0 in NASCAR 2026, wins in Atlanta with damaged car

Tyler Reddick won the AutoTrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway with the right front fender torn off, the front of the car covered in tape, and a margin of 0.164 seconds over Chase Briscoe. With this victory and the one at Daytona a week ago, Reddick is just the sixth driver in Cup Series history to win the first two races of a season. Matt Kenseth was the last to do it, in 2009.

The race featured 57 lead changes among 14 drivers, 10 caution flags, and ended in double overtime. Reddick led 53 laps, more than anyone, but the ones that mattered were the last two.

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How to Win a Race with a Wrecked Car

With 40 laps to go in the scheduled distance, Reddick got caught up in a multi-car accident that destroyed the right front of his Toyota No. 45. The problem with repairing it went beyond the damage because with an ambient temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit, the tape and materials didn't stick well to the cold metal. Billy Scott, his crew chief, had to improvise with thick layers of tape to keep the aerodynamics minimally functional.

Reddick didn't have the fastest car at that moment, but he had track position and a teammate up front. Bubba Wallace started first on the final restart with Reddick tucked in behind him pushing. On the outside, Carson Hocevar lined up with Ross Chastain giving him a push. When Wallace moved up to try and pass Hocevar, he left a lane open down low. Briscoe pushed Reddick through that gap and the No. 45 emerged ahead just before the finish line.

23XI Leads the Championship

A week ago at Daytona, Reddick needed a push from Riley Herbst in turn 4 to get by Chase Elliott and end an 18-month winless streak. That Sunday, three 23XI cars finished in the top 10. In Atlanta, Wallace led 46 laps and seemed to have the race controlled before the final chaos shuffled him back to eighth place.

23XI isn't winning by luck: at Daytona it was clean team effort and at Atlanta it was the ability to recover with a car that Denny Hamlin described as "a city in ruins." Reddick leads the championship by 40 points over Wallace, his own teammate, and Michael Jordan's organization arrives at the third race with two wins in two attempts.

"The guys worked hard all summer and never gave up," Jordan said. "For us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about this team."

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Van Gisbergen Survives It All and Suárez Closes Top 5

Chastain finished third, Hocevar fourth, and Daniel Suárez fifth to complete a good Sunday for the Chevrolet group. Shane van Gisbergen, former Australian Supercars champion, was involved in three separate incidents, including contact with Larson that ended in a spin at the end of Stage 2. Still, he finished sixth, his best result on an oval since arriving in NASCAR.

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Several big names did not finish the race. William Byron, who had been carrying issues since the Daytona Duels, hit the wall while battling up front, blew a tire, and while trying to make it to pit road triggered a chain reaction accident that collected Cindric, Logano, and several others. Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry took each other out in Stage 2. Kyle Busch spun sideways on the backstretch and crashed head-on into the wall.

Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 10.

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The Next Stop is COTA

The Cup Series moves to its first road course of the season with the DuraMax Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (3:30 p.m. ET). Christopher Bell, who finished 21st in Atlanta after Hocevar sent him into the wall during the first overtime, is the defending winner.