Tyler Reddick made NASCAR history on Sunday at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The driver of the No. 45 entered the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne having won the first two races of the 2026 Cup Series season.
After fending off road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen in the closing laps, the 23XI Racing driver captured the checkered flag at COTA for his third straight win. It’s the first time in NASCAR history that a driver has won the first three races of the season.
Reddick led a race-high 58 of 95 laps en route to victory. The win comes off his triumph in the Daytona 500 two weeks ago and his win at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta last week.
Michael Jordan on driver Tyler Reddick’s historic 3-peat: ‘Hardest one to win’
Six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan co-owns 23XI Racing alongside Denny Hamlin. In the last three weeks, the basketball legend has made three trips to victory lane with Tyler Reddick.
Jordan knows a thing or two about 3-peats as he won three straight NBA titles on two different occasions with the Chicago Bulls. Following Sunday’s checkered flag, Jordan told FOX Sports reporter Jamie Little that the third is always the most challenging.
In the end, Reddick got it done.
“Tyler came in with the most pressure I guess. … He had the chance to win three in a row [and] that’s the hardest one to win. He kept to his strategy and, man, the guys put together a great car. I think [crew chief Billy Scott] did an unbelievable job in calling the race and Tyler did a good job,” Jordan said.
Jordan gives a ton of credit to Hamlin for helping establish 23XI Racing and making it the team it is today. Without him, Jordan said the pairing of Reddick and Scott might not have been possible.
“He’s the mastermind behind finding Tyler and putting together Billy Scott and all them. I just put up the money. I’m just a competitor. I think Denny’s done an unbelievable job in terms of helping build this team,” Jordan said.
Shane van Gisbergen falls short of historic sixth straight road course win
While Reddick was chasing a historic third straight Cup win to start 2026, Shane van Gisbergen was seeking history of his own. The driver of the No. 97 was aiming for his sixth straight road course win, a feat that’s never been done before.
Yet, the Trackhouse Racing driver fell one spot shy of doing that as he ran runner-up to Reddick on Sunday. When talking to FOX Sports reporter Regan Smith post-race, SVG said it was “weird” to be disappointed with a second-place finish.
The New Zealand native gave credit where it was due, however, and applauded Reddick for the drive he made on Sunday.
“Just following Tyler, his driving was immaculate. His car was very good too,” van Gisbergen said.
Top-10 finishers and notes from COTA
Following SVG in third place was Christopher Bell, while Ty Gibbs placed fourth and Michael McDowell earned fifth. Sixth place was Kyle Larson, followed by seventh place Chase Elliott, eighth place Ryan Blaney, ninth place AJ Allmendinger, and 10th place Denny Hamlin.
Ross Chastain won stage one of Sunday’s race, while Ty Gibbs took the win in stage two. Chase Briscoe was the sole driver to post a DNF as he finished 37th. The race had three cautions, with only one for an incident.
Towards the end of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman swapped out of his car with former O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Myatt Snider. The driver of the No. 48 was feeling under the weather and opted not to finish the race.
After three races, Tyler Reddick holds the points lead by 70 over teammate Bubba Wallace. Chase Elliott is third in the standings, behind the leader by 72. Blaney is fourth, behind by 86, and SVG sits fifth, behind by 96.
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