- 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three Cup Series races in a season.
- Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen finishes runner-up to end his five-race winning streak on road/street courses dating to last season.
AUSTIN, Texas (March 1, 2026) – Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing became the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three Cup Series races to start a season after securing Sunday’s victory in the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas.
Reddick (No. 45 Chumba Casino Toyota) turned in a “Jordanesque” performance, starting from the pole, leading a race-high 58 laps and masterfully fending off road-course master Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing in the closing laps for a 3.944-second victory.
Reddick opened the season with back-to-back wins at the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week at EchoPark Speedway for the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR star Denny Hamlin. He punctuated his stellar start to the 2026 campaign by becoming the first two-time NASCAR at COTA winner in the event’s six-year history while cementing his name in the NASCAR record books.
“It means the world,” said Reddick, whose historic victory was the 11th of his Cup Series career. “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 outlast him there and hold on for the win is just incredible.”
“…It’s pretty crazy. I’m just trying to soak it all in, honestly.”
“What a dream start for those guys,” said Hamlin, who finished 10th on Sunday. “… They’re locked in right now. Tyler is locked in. He was just so poised from qualifying day. You can’t get poles at this type of race track unless you are just really disciplined and where I’m looking from, where I restarted there, and he is under attack on the first two laps on the restart and he stayed absolutely disciplined and didn’t make any mistakes. That’s what champions are made of, and he is well on his way.”
“Look, I just put up the money. I’m just a competitor,” added Jordan about his ownership role. “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.”
Reddick started on the pole of the 95-lap race on the 2.41-mile National Course, but did not lead a lap or finish among the top 10 in the first stage as the strategy prioritized tire conservation. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who started second, won the stage while van Gisbergen, who won Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250, improved 11 positions from this starting position to move into second.
Reddick finished fifth in the second stage – won by Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing – but flexed his muscle by leading 18 of the 25 laps in the segment. He led early in the final 50-lap stage for 20 laps before the final cycle of pit stops and a caution from Laps 76-78, which set up a potential showdown with van Gisbergen. Reddick maintained his lead on the restart with van Gisbergen, who won five of the six Cup Series road/street races last season, lurking on his tail in second. With 10 laps remaining, van Gisbergen was in striking distance at just 0.367 of a second behind.
The dramatic pass never materialized as Reddick methodically stretched his lead over van Gisbergen. He opened up a one-second lead with seven laps remaining and eliminated any drama by extending it to more than three seconds with three to go.
“We lacked a little bit of turn and a little bit of drive,” van Gisbergen said. “Tyler was amazing. The way he was driving was really good, and his car was good. … It was still an amazing result, but you’re always disappointed with second when the expectations are so high.”
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell, the 2025 NASCAR at COTA winner, finished third and Gibbs and Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell rounded out the top five, respectively.
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