NASCAR
Tyler Reddick Takes Michael Jordan to Daytona 500 Glory
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Winless for more than a year, Tyler Reddick now tastes his biggest racing triumph yet in the Daytona 500. Fourth at the white flag, the 23XI Racing No. 45 navigated the last lap to perfection with teammate help behind him. Just days shy of team owner Michael Jordan’s birthday, ‘The GOAT’ gets to celebrate on NASCAR’s grandest stage.
Zane Smith won Stage 1, a career first amid several Fords who stretched fuel over 50 laps in this run.
Stage 2 would end with a massive wreck caused by leader Justin Allgaier. The No. 40 Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin made contact at the start/finish line, with nearly half the field collected here. The second Stage win went to Bubba Wallace as it ended under yellow.
The field stacks up and the caution is out on Lap 124. pic.twitter.com/FvCEFaow7S
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 15, 2026
In Stage 3, a trio of Toyotas inherited the lead–Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, and Corey Heim. Running many laps in a three-wide formation, this fuel strategy allowed the final green flag stops to happen just outside 10 laps left. Bell and Denny Hamlin would tangle after contact, setting up a restart with just four laps left.
Michael McDowell, the lone man to not pit, believed he had enough fuel and held the lead. Spire Motorsports teammate Carson Hocevar soon found McDowell’s back bumper, with the 71 and 77 pulling away. Hocevar made his move coming to the white flag, and appeared in position for a maiden Cup triumph. Trying to block three lanes, Hocevar spun entering turn one. This initially gave Chase Elliott the top spot, but the 9 had no teammate help. Riley Herbst was able to hook up with Tyler Reddick and get the 45 by the 9. Herbst also spun in the run to the line trying to block Brad Keselowski, hooking everyone else in the lead pack. A bridesmaid in last year’s Daytona 500, Tyler Reddick is now champion of The Great American Race.
LAST LAP of the 68th #Daytona500 where Hocevar gets turned and a massive crash unfolds right at the checkered flag. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/9RY7ETM880
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 15, 2026
“Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me,” Reddick said. “When you’re a Cup driver and you get to this level and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s expected you win every single year. For us to go on that drought we did made us look hard in the mirror, and really proud of everyone on our Chumba Casino Toyota Camry. Worked really hard in the off-season, and there was 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.”
“Just speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. Honestly, the best part is my son asked before this race, Are you finally going to win this race? Something about today just felt right.”
“We had the lead there when that caution came out, lined up next to McDowell, and we just kind of kept getting hung a couple times in the closing laps there. Yeah, just every time we’d kind of break up, there would be nowhere left to go but to push, and they pushed me, obviously.”
“My teammate Riley Herbst gave me a lot of pushes there and then tried to win the race for himself, as he should at the end there. Just incredible how it all played out. Just true Daytona madness. It’s going to be a long night if I’ve already lost my voice from screaming. Never thought I’d be Daytona 500 champion.”
Unofficial top finishers behind Reddick were: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski. The rest of the top-10 were: Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, Josh Berry, and Bubba Wallace. Hear these and other drivers’ post-race thoughts below.
.@chaseelliott had a chance…he talks through the final lap and seeing that chance go away. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/2UFn0GtDb0
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) February 15, 2026
.@keselowski frustrated about @rileyherbst’s move at the end of the Daytona 500.
“It was very, very stupid.” #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0eK0A60Lvy
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) February 15, 2026
.@BubbaWallace calls today the best Daytona 500 he’s ever ran, and is very happy for his @23XIRacing teammate @TylerReddick on getting the crown jewel win.
“It’s almost @Jumpman23’s birthday…heck of a present”#Daytona500 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/xNsmT8zTGu
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 15, 2026
No Daytona 500 three-peat for @WilliamByron, but he was surprised to be in the top-five late after being in multiple issues earlier.
The 24 was 12th today. #Daytona500 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/p1YDEpoGBv
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 15, 2026
No Daytona 500 three-peat for @WilliamByron, but he was surprised to be in the top-five late after being in multiple issues earlier.
The 24 was 12th today. #Daytona500 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/p1YDEpoGBv
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 15, 2026
Here’s what @Blaney said post-race.
When asked about fuel saving and how it clogs the lanes, he said “we have to fix that. It’s pretty bad.”#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/FwwFkL5Bcr
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) February 15, 2026
Reddick will try and back up his superspeedway win with another victory next week. Week two of the 2026 NASCAR season will see Cup cars at EchoPark (Atlanta) Speedway for second straight drafting race. The Autotrader 400 goes green Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Chris Graythen/Getty Images
