There was no shortage of storylines coming out of Circuit of the Americas this past weekend.
The running of the Duramax Texas Grand Prix Presented by RelaDyne at COTA saw one notable streak come to an end while another streak continued. Let’s take a look at some of the key numbers and stats coming out of Austin, Texas.
0 – Cautions Due to Incident
Sunday’s (March 1) race was mostly a clean one that allowed for organic road course racing and for the drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series to showcase their talents making left and right turns.
The yellow flag came out just three times, once for each stage break and then again for debris on the racetrack on lap 76, cutting the final stage almost in half.
This ended a streak of 14 consecutive races with at least one caution for a wreck. The previous crash-free race was also on a road course at Watkins Glen International last August.
Stock Car Scoop: Tyler Reddick Goes 3 for 3 at COTA
2 – Laps Led by Shane van Gisbergen
Six road course wins in a row was not meant to be for Shane van Gisbergen, as he came up one spot short in second and one victory short of Jeff Gordon‘s record of six consecutive road course triumphs.
Indeed, when it comes to road or street courses in the Cup Series, van Gisbergen may have finally met his match at COTA.
SVG led the field for just two circuits, the fewest laps led at a road course for the Kiwi since going full time in Cup at the beginning of 2025 and the fourth-fewest overall in his Cup career.
A glimpse at a few other stats shows that van Gisbergen’s road course abilities appear to experience a slight downgrade in the Lone Star State. Not only is he winless at COTA, but his average start is almost eight spots worse and his average finish nearly three spots worse than all other road courses combined.
Nonetheless, a runner-up finish means a great points day for van Gisbergen, moving up to sixth in the standings and putting him in early Chase contention.
3 – Straight Wins to Start the Season for Tyler Reddick
Now, we move on to the man of the hour. Last week on Stat Sheet, we discussed how Tyler Reddick joined an exclusive group of just six drivers to win the first two races of the Cup season.
With the win on Sunday, Reddick formed a new club all to himself as the first driver in the 78-year history of the Cup Series to win the first three races in a season. For a driver and team that had an uncertain future at this time last year due to the lawsuit against NASCAR, this is an amazing run of success.
It begs the question: can Reddick make it four in a row at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8? If so, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota would join a list of all-time NASCAR greats.
12 – Different Drivers Who Have Won Four Cup Races in a Row
In the Cup Series all time, just 12 drivers have managed to win four races in a row.
As you can see, with another checkered flag at Phoenix, Reddick could join elite company. Of the 12 drivers with four consecutive victory lane visits, all but one of them are members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Only Richard Petty and David Pearson had two such streaks in their career.
Should Reddick extend the streak to four, just two drivers — Petty and Bobby Allison — have won five races in a row. Furthermore, Reddick would become just the second driver in the Chase/playoff era to win four in a row, joining Jimmie Johnson in 2007. However, Reddick has a ways to go to match or exceed Petty’s streak of 10 straight wins back in 1967.
Regardless of what happens at Phoenix, Reddick’s run to start 2026 has been impressive.
The COTA Cup Race That ‘Could’ve Been’ for Connor Zilisch
14 – Finishing Position for Connor Zilisch
Checking in on the new kid on the grid, Connor Zilisch returned to the site of his first career Cup Series start a season ago. The rookie phenom overcame adversity for a better second visit to COTA than the first.
In 2025, Zilisch completed only 49 of the 95 laps before getting caught up in a crash to finish 37th, shotgun on the field. On Sunday, Zilisch logged all of the laps and came home with a solid top-15 finish in 14th, an improvement of 23 positions from the previous year.
While it will not turn any heads, Zilisch’s race on Sunday showed noticeable improvement from his first time around COTA. The growth of Zilisch in his rookie Cup season will be a storyline to watch throughout 2026.
70 – Points Gap Between Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing Teammate Bubba Wallace
Under the new, revitalized Chase format, winning rewards a driver 55 points as supposed to 40 under the previous system. With his white-hot start to the season, Reddick has reaped the benefits of this change, putting him on the right side of a 23XI Racing 1-2 in the standings, holding a 70-point lead over teammate Bubba Wallace.
In fact, to find a bigger points lead through three races in a Cup season, you have to go all the way back to the days of the Latford points system. After the first three races of the 2004 season, Matt Kenseth began the defense of his 2003 title with an 88-point cushion over Tony Stewart. Reddick’s cushion is the first double-digit points lead through three races since 2021, when Denny Hamlin led Kevin Harvick by 20 markers.
Granted, there is still a lot of racing left, but Reddick has established himself as a clear-cut championship favorite.
