3-for-3: Tyler Reddick's third straight win to open season makes NASCAR history

Story by3-for-3: Tyler Reddick's third straight win to open season makes NASCAR history23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, front right, celebrates with his son Beau Reddick, front left, after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Stephen Spillman/Associated Press)Kevin LyttleMon, March 2, 2026 at 12:44 AM UTC·4 min read

In the 78-year history of NASCAR, no driver had ever won the first three races of the season.

Until Sunday.

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick (45) and Team Penske's Ryan Blaney drive through Turn 13 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Stephen Spillman/Austin American-Statesman)

Tyler Reddick made NASCAR history in Austin, holding off road course extraordinaire Shane van Gisbergen to win the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.

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Reddick, driving the No. 45 Toyota for Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing, won the opening Daytona 500 two weeks ago, then followed it up last week by ruling the Atlanta superspeedway, then on Sunday expertly changed gears to handle the road course in Austin. It was Reddick's second victory here (2023). Van Gisbergen, who was the heavy race favorite, finished second and Christopher Bell, last year's COTA winner, was third. Van Gisbergen was chasing his sixth straight Cup road-course win.

"It's time for history, time for a change," Jordan, the basketball legend, said. "Tyler came in with the most pressure. Winning three in a row and the third definiitely the hardest. He kept to his strategy, the crew did an unbelievable job calling the race."

Fans walk the Grand Plaza during NASCAR at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)

Reddick, who was a 15-to-1 shot in Vegas, nabbed his 11th Cup victory.

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"Incredible. Gonna take a while to sink in," the 30-year-old Californian said. "Of course I realized SVP was chasing me. I had to be near perfect."

MORE: COTA's road course gives NASCAR drivers an early switcheroo

Reddick, who led for 60 of the 95 laps, had the faster, more powerful car, but van Gisbergen was so clever in finding every edge around a road course.

JR Motorsports driver Shane Van Gisbergen leads a group of cars into turn 13 during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)

"SVG gets you a little nervous back there, but I think Tyler had him covered all day," Jordan said. "As for me, I just put up the money. (Co-owner) Denny (Hamlin) and this team gets it done."

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Said van Gisbergen: "Tyler was amazing. When expectations were so high for us, I guess second is a bit of a letdown, but we had a pretty good day."

Next week the Cup Series goes to Phoenix. "I'll be there," Jordan said.

Ty Gibbs, the grandson of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, finished fourth and Michael McDowell fifth. Teen phenom Connor Zilisch turned what looked like a dreadful weekend into an exciting Sunday run — until it wasn't. Zilisch spun out on Turn 1 in a lap 79 restart and finished 14th.

Zilisch was the second favorite behind Trackhouse Racing teammate van Gisbergen, but qualified 25th. He was thrown off course in stage 2 by Daniel Suarez. Zilisch, also a favorite in Saturday's O'Reilly Series race, struggled to 21st in that one, a race won by van Gisbergen. However, Zilisch came roaring back, reached as high as fifth place, before taken out by calamity late.

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Veteran standout Brad Keselowski, recovering from a broken leg in an offseason ski accident, was just trying to put in a full day. The No. 6 RFK Ford driver qualified 26th and finished 20th. Road-course vet Joey Hand was on standby in case Keselowski couldn't finish. Hendrick driver Alex Bowman got sick on a scorching 85-degree day and had to be replaced by Myatt Snider, a pit spotter for FOX.

This was the sixth NASCAR weekend in Austin. COTA chairman Bobby Epstein hopes for many more.

"The partnership with SMI has evolved into a friendship — at all levels of our respected organizations," Epstein said. "We always look forward to NASCAR and its fans at COTA."

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