What Happened?
Tyler Reddick is on fire — and no, not just because it was a hot day in Texas.
Reddick and his No. 45 23XI Racing team won its third straight race to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, doing so at Circuit of the Americas. It’s the first time in NASCAR’s 77-year history that any driver has opened the Cup season with three consecutive wins.
The win itself is Reddick’s 11th in his Cup career, and it’s the first time Reddick has won more than once at a track.
Tyler Reddick Wins 3rd Straight, Holds On at COTA
What Really Happened?
While Reddick has quickly risen to be one of the faces of the sport over the last few years, it wasn’t without the help of his team owner. You may have heard of him, I’m not sure. He used to play basketball, has a side hustle of designing shoes.
You know, Michael Jordan?
As iconic as Jordan has been outside of the sport, his role as a “face of NASCAR” didn’t really come until recently, not just because of the landmark offseason lawsuit, but also because he attends more races than he did when the team first started in 2021.
As Jordan said himself after Sunday’s race, “I just put up the money.” Co-owner Denny Hamlin puts together most of the competition aspect of the team with Jordan’s financial support. Not only that, but Jordan’s name being attached to the team has likely helped 23XI land some major sponsorship that it otherwise may not have — such as, the obvious, the Jordan brand.
But after selling off his majority ownership share of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets in 2023, Jordan has had an increased presence at the racetrack. Just three races into 2026, and Jumpman has been to all three of them.
Coincidentally, Reddick has been the winner of all three of those races.
Now, Jordan doesn’t go to every race, but with his driver winning all three races to start the season, it felt like it should’ve been a no-brainer that he would keep the momentum and good luck going by showing up to Phoenix Raceway next week.
And Jumpman agreed.
It’s not a bad plan for Jordan to keep showing up to the racetrack as long as Reddick keeps winning. Not only does having the support of the six-time NBA champion likely boost team morale, but statistically speaking, Reddick has almost always won in the presence of His Airness.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s take a look at all eight of Reddick’s wins with 23XI (his first three came with Richard Childress Racing) and whether or not Jordan was there:
- COTA 2023: No
- Kansas Speedway fall 2023: No
- Talladega Superspeedway spring 2024: Yes
- Michigan International Speedway 2024: Yes (though he did not stay when the race was postponed to Monday)
- Homestead-Miami Speedway 2024: Yes
- 2026 Daytona 500: Yes
- EchoPark Speedway spring 2026: Yes
- COTA 2026: Yes
Only the 2023 COTA race was held while Jordan was still the owner of the Hornets. Even still, six of Reddick’s eight wins with 23XI (a whopping 75%) have come with Jordan at the track, including the first three of this season.
So Jordan deciding already to make the trip to Phoenix makes sense. He seems to be some sort of good luck charm for Reddick and the No. 45 team. Since Reddick has been three-for-three on the season and six-for-eight in his 23XI career with Jordan at the track, why not keep showing up and keep that win percentage as high as possible?
To paraphrase the legendary Brian Fantana of Anchorman: “75% of the time, it works every time.”
See you in Phoenix, MJ.
Paint Scheme of the Race
For the reputation he’s garnering, it only makes sense that Carson Hocevar is embracing a Dale Earnhardt-esque mantra.
His sponsor, Chili’s seems to have similar notions, as does his team, Spire Motorsports. When Hocevar’s No. 77 rolled off the hauler at the beginning of the weekend, the Chili’s Chevrolet was not its usual white and denim blue.
No, instead, Spire turned the scheme around and put it in “dark mode.” However, upon doing that, the resulting paint scheme looks a little bit similar to Earnhardt’s black No. 3 of old.
While a scheme like this was probably always in the cards (especially given the matching firesuit Hocevar wore to go along with it), it can’t be coincidence that the team rolled this bad boy out the week after Hocevar caused some controversy with his aggressive — dare I say, intimidating — driving against Christopher Bell.
Some fans called this scheme the “Intimindente’,” and it’s not hard to see why. Earnhardt callbacks aside, this scheme just looks good. Putting the original scheme in dark mode is a clever twist to the scheme, and keeping the red accents was an equally nice touch.
Hocevar started 12th but finished 31st after a spin on the frontstretch on the final lap.
NASCAR Points Standings After COTA & St. Petersburg
What’s Next?
From the hot sun to … the hot desert sun.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads further west for its first non-drafting oval of the season at Phoenix Raceway. It’s a tripleheader weekend with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the ARCA Menards Series, but the big story is the NTT IndyCar Series joining the weekend’s activities for the second straight weekend. Whereas the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was the opening act for IndyCar on the Streets of St. Petersburg this weekend, IndyCar will be the opening act for the Cup Series next weekend.
Bell is the defending winner of the race, the endpiece to a three-peat he pulled off last year. Now, Reddick will look to pull off a four-for-four this season.
Coverage for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 begins at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8. FS1 will carry television coverage.
i was surprised they didn’t show bubba being comforted again by jordan.
I was expecting a review of the race, instead I got an article on MJ’s attendance record.
And he didn’t mention how many times Jordan was there and Reddick DIDN’T win.
jordon has already said he’s headed to phoenix.
Ditto.
C’mon, Anthony… be honest with us. Did you forget to watch the race? There’s nothing here I couldn’t have found out from a one-paragraph race recap in USA Today (except useless stats about MJ’s attendance). We’re a tough crowd, but we’re also loyal readers, so constructively speaking, try a little harder next time.
On the positive side, I agree with you about the.#77 paint job. Easily the paint job of the race.