How far can he go?
That’s certainly the question floating around NASCAR after 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick won his third straight race to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. After a winless 2025, Reddick kicked off the season with his first Daytona 500 win, which he followed up with victories at EchoPark Speedway and Circuit of the Americas.
It’s the first time in NASCAR’s nearly 80-year history that a driver has won the first three races of the year.
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But can Reddick make it four?
Though it hasn’t been accomplished to open a season, four wins in a row aren’t unprecedented. The last driver to do it was NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson in 2007, so it’s a definite rarity.
But while a four-pack isn’t in the never-been-done category, Reddick winning at Phoenix Raceway this weekend is probably a long shot. The scarcity of four-race win streaks aside, Reddick hasn’t been particularly strong at Phoenix. He’s got just two top fives in 12 starts with an average finish just north of 18th (17.8). So while he could pull one out of his hat, he’s not among the favorites.
Looking at the bigger picture, it’s way too early to proclaim Reddick as a title contender. He’s given himself a good points cushion, holding a 70-point lead — more than a full race’s worth of points — over teammate Bubba Wallace, but it’s still just three weeks into the year.
Reddick is certainly setting himself up for a Chase berth, but it’s still worth noting that Matt Kenseth, the last driver before Reddick to win the first two races of the year in 2009, missed the Chase altogether that year. With 23 races left in the regular season, it’s likely that other drivers will have their own hot streaks. Reddick will fall back to earth too — that’s just the nature of racing over a long season.
Still, if it seems like Reddick is on the verge of something much bigger, that’s because he is. He still has something to prove, but is 2026 the year that Reddick completely realizes the immense potential he has shown?
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At age 30, Reddick is in his racing prime: experienced enough to know how to approach situations and in his physical peak years. He has already tied his season high of three wins, and he’s got 33 weeks to improve on that. He’s also a sponsor’s dream: talented, popular and fan-friendly.
In his first full-time season in a NASCAR national series at just 19 years old, Reddick finished runner-up in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points to Erik Jones (who was also 19) in 2015, winning twice and putting down top 10s in 19 of 23 races. Under a full-season title format, Reddick fell just 15 points short of Jones, who had one more win than Reddick. Reddick’s average finish was a stellar 6.3 (as was Jones’).
Three years later, in his first full-time season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Reddick won two races and the 2018 title for JR Motorsports. By the numbers, he was outshone by Christopher Bell’s seven wins, but he used the playoff format to his advantage, winning the season finale to secure the title.
Reddick moved to Richard Childress Racing’s O’Reilly stable for 2019. No driver had won back-to-back titles in that series for two different owners, but Reddick set out to change that. And if the critics had been vocal about his winning the title the previous year with just two wins, he won six times, again topping Bell and Cole Custer in the finale for the championship despite being just edged in the win column by both. Reddick’s 6.3 average finish was almost three positions better than Custer’s (9.0) or Bell’s (9.1), and his 24 top fives and 27 top-10 finishes led the series.
Reddick moved into the Cup Series in 2020 for RCR. As an organization, RCR was struggling to be a contender in NASCAR’s top series. In 2019, full-time drivers Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric managed just eight top 10s between them, with a ninth coming from Reddick in one of two starts.
When Reddick replaced Hemric in 2020, the organization showed marked improvement. Both he and Dillon finished in the top 10 nine times, doubling the organization’s total from the previous year. In 2021, Reddick had 16 top 10s and Dillon eight, besting 2020 by six. Not only was Reddick improving, but he was also elevating RCR’s Cup program.
Reddick won three times in 2022, the most in a single season for RCR since Kevin Harvick had a quartet of victories in 2013. He also decided to move to 23XI for the 2023 season, an organization with more factory support and a technical alliance with top-tier Joe Gibbs Racing. That year, he became the first multi-race winner in a single season for 23XI, winning twice and finishing a career-best sixth in points. The following year, Reddick won three times with career highs in top fives (12) and top 10s (21). Not only that, but teammate Wallace also topped his career marks in both categories.
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Reddick has never been over the top on track. He’s not checkers-or-wreckers. Instead, he thrives on consistency and smart decisions. He’s not easily rattled.
His 2025 season, though, was enough to rattle any driver. 23XI was embroiled in a very public lawsuit against NASCAR, fighting the charter agreement that team ownership felt teams had been bullied into signing. Losing the lawsuit likely meant losing the team’s charters, and for Reddick, that meant he could become a free agent. In the midst of that uncertainty, Reddick’s youngest child, Rookie, had some alarming health issues, undergoing surgery late in the season.
Reddick’s performance stumbled, but he came roaring back to start 2026. The lawsuit behind it, 23XI seems to have renewed focus as well, with Wallace off to a great start as well with two top 10s in three races.
Reddick first showed his potential as a driver a decade ago, but he may be just reaching it now. Along the way, he has improved both of the organizations he has raced with, which might be a stronger testament to his talent than his own numbers. Reddick has been a title contender at every level he has raced, and if the way it’s starting is any indication, 2026 may be his time to shine.
I’ve always liked the guy and his ability to be a good racer instead of just a driver. That team has done nothing but improve. Have to admit that they have definitely improved bubba and their cars perhaps a tad better than jgr not counting Hamlin. I hope he has a good season.
Agreed. I’ve always respected Reddick, for his ability to drive fast, yet generally know the line between aggressive and reckless.
Also agree 23XI has risen to the point of rivaling JGR for top Toyota team. If 23XI finds a way to elevate their third car (Herbst) to the level of Reddick and Wallace, JGR very well may find themselves as second fiddle at Toyota.
So Daytona rolls around and all the talk is if Tyler doesn’t improve his performance right away, he WILL be fired from 23XI racing. They droned on and on about it during the broadcasts. So, Bubba in 5 years with 23XI: 180 races, 3 wins. Tyler in 3 years with 23XI,108 races, 5 wins. And of course now he has 8 wins. BTW, in 340 races with Hendrick, Dale Jr. won 9 races for a whopping 2.65 %, in those “junk ” cars as his fans called them. The ones another driver over the same period won 48 races and 5 championships in.
I watch and listen to a lot of racing coverage, and I’ve yet to hear anyone say Reddick was on the ropes with 23XI. If anything, before the 23XI/NASCAR suit was settled, the concern was Reddick could use the charter clause in his contract to jump ship to another top tier team, as the demand for his services would be high.
Not saying no one said Reddick was in trouble, because people can and do say stupid things every day. But I heard no recurring narrative about Reddick’s performance being a concern.
After winning the lawsuit, 23XI is now in control of japCAR. 23XI is now able to build their cars any way they want. It is blatantly obvious that the 45 car is not built to the same rules other teams are made to follow.
Let’s not anoint him just yet.