Reddick, three wins in three NASCAR Cup races in 2026

No driver in the 77-year history of the Cup Series had ever won the first three races of a season. Five tried with two consecutive wins to start the year, the last being Matt Kenseth in 2009, and all failed in the third race. Tyler Reddick did it on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas in the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing.

The victory wasn't as clean as the final margin suggests. Reddick led 58 of 95 laps, more than anyone by a wide margin, and started from the pole, but Ryan Blaney put his car alongside him in Turn 6A during the third stage, and Shane van Gisbergen, who had accumulated five consecutive road course wins, closed ground on him for eight laps in the final stint. Reddick used the traction of his No. 45 Toyota on the climbs into Turn 1 to gradually build a gap and finished with a margin of 3.944 seconds that doesn't reflect how close the fight was in the first half of that run.

"His handling was impeccable," said Van Gisbergen. "We lacked a little rotation and traction exiting the corners. Tyler was simply better."

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Three races, three ways to win

What makes this streak particular is that each victory came under very different circumstances. At Daytona, Reddick needed a push from Riley Herbst in the final corner to pass Chase Elliott in a superspeedway race where teamwork between cars from the same organization was decisive. At Atlanta, he ran the final laps with the fender torn off and the front covered in tape that barely stuck to the cold metal, and won over Chase Briscoe in double overtime. At COTA, he led more laps than anyone and had to fend off two of the fastest drivers on this type of track.

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI who finished tenth in the race, was direct about the chances of repetition. "I'm not going to see this again in my lifetime. Winning at Daytona, Atlanta, and here are three completely different disciplines, and if you add the randomness factor of superspeedway racing, the odds are extremely low."

What Hamlin sees in Reddick and what's missing

Hamlin spoke in more detail than usual about Reddick's current level in the press conference, including a rare admission for an active driver. "He's more complete than I am at this point. I have a handful of races where it would be tough for me to compete for the win. For him, those races are fewer."

The only area where Hamlin believes Reddick can grow is on short ovals, and he said the team is working to improve their performance there.

On Reddick's discipline in managing the lead in the final laps, Van Gisbergen offered a revealing detail by saying he could tell Reddick still had reserve and wasn't pushing to the maximum. Hamlin put it in terms of track strategy. "On a road course, when you're leading, you can set the pace at whatever you're comfortable with knowing that no one is going to pass you, and at the same time, you keep the guy behind you close enough so that his car wears out. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense."

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Jordan and the build from scratch

Michael Jordan, co-owner of the team, was out of breath when he arrived for the pit lane interview and connected the victory to his own competitive experience. "The hardest of the three to win is always the third. Tyler stuck to his strategy, and the engineers put together a great car. Billy Scott, the crew chief, did an incredible job calling the race."

Jordan credited Hamlin with building the team, and Hamlin was transparent about how that partnership worked. No other team was going to give him the level of control he wanted, so when conditions aligned to found 23XI with Jordan, Hamlin insisted that if the project failed, it would be because of his decisions. The team started with three employees working out of Mike Wheeler's garage, without buying or absorbing any existing structure.

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The championship after three races

Reddick has accumulated 186 points, 70 more than Bubba Wallace (116) and 72 more than Chase Elliott (114), his two closest pursuers. Van Gisbergen was one of the biggest climbers in the standings with his second place, moving up 11 spots to fifth place with 90 points, tied with Joey Logano. Michael McDowell, with his fifth place at COTA, also moved up 11 spots to ninth. Christopher Bell, winner of this race in 2025, finished third. Ty Gibbs was fourth with a Stage 2 win, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five. Sixth and seventh places went to Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

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The race had three caution flags. The most significant came on lap 79 when a wheel came off the Chevrolet of Ross Chastain, who had won Stage 1. The caution forced the restart that decided the race. Reddick held the lead, Van Gisbergen passed Blaney going through the esses, and from there the two separated themselves from the rest. AJ Allmendinger finished ninth but needed medical attention after getting out of the car because his personal cooling system failed during the race, with track temperature at 109 degrees Fahrenheit at the start.

The Cup Series heads to Phoenix Raceway for the fourth race of the season next Sunday.