Tyler Reddick Makes NASCAR History
Tyler Reddick won at Circuit of the Americas, making NASCAR history with his third consecutive win to start the 2026 season — the first driver ever to achieve this feat. Social media is buzzing about Reddick's Monday-after-victory struts, while some fans debate whether 23XI has an unfair advantage. The victory came in a hard-fought battle with Shane van Gisbergen.
Reddick's victory at the Circuit of the Americas was his second at the track, making him the first repeat winner there since the Cup Series began racing at the Formula 1 circuit in 2021. The win also snapped Shane van Gisbergen's five-race winning streak on road courses and denied him a record-tying sixth consecutive road victory. The historic third win came after a season-opening victory at the Daytona 500 and a win at Atlanta, giving Reddick a commanding 70-point lead in the driver's championship over his 23XI Racing teammate, Bubba Wallace. Before this season, five other drivers had won the first two races of a season, but none had ever managed to win the third. The man Reddick held off, Shane van Gisbergen, is a three-time Supercars Champion from New Zealand who has quickly established himself as a dominant force on NASCAR's road courses. Known as "SVG," he won five of the six road course races in the 2025 season and was named the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Some fan discussion about an "unfair advantage" for 23XI Racing may stem from a recent off-track victory. The team, co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan and driver Denny Hamlin, settled a federal antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December. This settlement secured a permanent franchise-style model for the team, which was seen as a major legal win. Reddick's 2026 season is a significant turnaround after he went winless in 2025, despite winning the regular-season title in 2024. His team, 23XI Racing, also went winless last season. The next challenge for Reddick will be at Phoenix Raceway on March 8, where he has the opportunity to extend his unprecedented winning streak to four races. The last driver to win four consecutive races at any point in a season was Jimmie Johnson back in 2007.
