NASCAR
Tyler Reddick Wins Again at COTA, Sets NASCAR Milestone with 2026 Three-peat
AUSTIN, TEXAS – The hottest driver and team of the 2026 NASCAR season remained unfazed in COTA. Beating world-class road racing star Shane van Gisbergen in a heads-up run to the checkers, Tyler Reddick raced his way into NASCAR history books. The 23XI Racing driver is the first man to ever win the opening three races of a Cup Series season. Leading a race-high 58 laps in Austin, Reddick left very little doubt to who’s the top cowboy early this year.
Ryan Blaney quickly established his Ford as a contender early, taking the lead on lap nine. The No. 12 team short pitting Stage 1 gave this win to second-place starter Ross Chastain. The Trackhouse No. 1 finished this run just ahead of his teammate Shane van Gisbergen. Stage 2 saw polesitter Tyler Reddick regain control of the race. The No. 45 opting to short pit, however, gave this Stage win to Ty Gibbs.
Chastain losing a wheel late set up a restart with only 18 laps left. Reddick would keep control out front, but Shane van Gisbergen quickly got to second. Try as hard as the New Zealander could, he never was able to reel in the No. 45 and truly challenge him. Driving off to a bigger and bigger lead in the closing laps, Reddick writes history as the first man to open a NASCAR year with a three-peat.
“It means the world,” Reddick said. “Yeah, it’s so fitting. We get going at the end there and I’m leading and there’s SVG, the guy I’ve been trying to beat for a while now. Just to be able to out last him there and hold on for the win is just incredible. Just really proud of this Chumba Casino Toyota Camry, everyone at 23XI. We worked really hard. We did not like getting beat like that at road courses. It’s one race, but it was so important, so fitting that we were able to get three in a row and make history.”
“Just trying to remember everything that I knew was going to be important there at the end and just tried to minimize the mistakes. Shane is — this is what he’s so good at. He does not make mistakes. I certainly made a couple and just doing everything I could to just manage the gap and just stay away from him, if you know what I mean. If I let him get close enough, it was going to be probably hard to hold him off.”
Behind Reddick and SVG, top finishers included: Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Michael McDowell. The rest of the top-10 were: Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, AJ Allmendinger, and Denny Hamlin.
Not only has Reddick earned three-straight wins to start 2026. For a third consecutive week, Michael Jordan also goes to victory lane. The 23XI Racing co-owner and NBA legend is no stranger to three-peats himself. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to three-straight titles twice (1991-1993 and 1996-1998) amid his dynasty run. Reddick is also NASCAR’s first repeat winner at COTA, and this is his first multi-win track. All in all, the iconic team owner was ecstatic to see history made by his No. 45 crew.
“It’s time for change,” Jordan said. “Time for change, and the guys feel the same thing. Tyler came in with the most pressure, I guess. Everybody expected him or he had a 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 Billy [Scott, crew chief] did an unbelievable job in calling the game, calling the race, and Tyler did a good job. He beat some good competition. You see SVG coming back there, you get a little nervous, but I think he had him covered pretty much the whole day.”
“I’m proud of the team that we’ve put together. Denny [Hamlin] I’m pretty sure is the same way. He feels the same way I do. I think a lot of credit goes to him because I think he’s the mastermind behind finding Tyler and putting together Billy Scott. Look, I just put up the money. I’m just a competitor. But I think Denny has done an unbelievable job in terms of helping build this team, and I think the team has done a good job of taking on leadership and going out and winning. That’s what it’s about, winning.”
Thanks to his perfect run to kick off 2026, Reddick remains atop the points standings. The No. 45 Toyota is now up by 70 markers over 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace. Chase Elliott remains third in points, two points off of Wallace.
Reddick will try and keep the momentum rolling and go for an unprecedented fourth consecutive win at Phoenix Raceway. The Straight Talk Wireless 500 goes green Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. No longer the championship finale venue, will we see a new contender emerge in the desert?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images
