MICHAEL JORDAN REACTS AS TYLER REDDICK WINS 4TH OF 6 | NASCAR CUP SERIES 2026

 

TYLER REDDICK WINS AT ATLANTA TO GIVE MICHAEL JORDAN SECOND STRAIGHT NASCAR VICTORY

 

Tyler Reddick rebounded from a crash to become the first driver in 17 years to sweep the first two races of a NASCAR Cup Series season, winning in double overtime Sunday at Echo Park Speedway. David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire

HAMPTON, Ga. — Whether on or off the racetrack, all Michael Jordan does is win in NASCAR.

For the second consecutive Sunday to open the season, the basketball great and co-owner of 23XI Racing celebrated in victory lane with driver Tyler Reddick. This time, after a thriller at Echo Park Speedway.

Jordan’s team now has the top two drivers in the Cup Series points standings with Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The six-time NBA champion already added a ring last week with Reddick in the Daytona 500, the crown jewel of stock-car racing.

Oh, and Jordan also settled a federal antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December, a major legal victory that secured a permanent franchise-style model and ensured his team would remain in business for the long-term.

“The guys worked hard all summer, and I know we had our little ordeal,” Jordan said after Reddick’s victory Sunday, referring to the bruising court battle that ended with him making peace with NASCAR CEO and chairman Jim France. “They kept working hard and this is the fruit of their labor. They put forth the effort, and for us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our whole team.”

It especially says a lot about Reddick, who put on another dazzling performance the week after he became the fourth driver in history to win the Daytona 500 by leading only the final lap.

This time, he led a race-high 53 laps on the 1.54-mile oval south of Atlanta – including the final two in a double-overtime restart. He snatched the lead from Wallace despite the right-front fender of his No. 45 Toyota being damaged in a nine-car crash on the 224th of a scheduled 260 laps. Reddick fell two laps down for repairs but came roaring back from 27th for his 10th career victory.

“I mean, that’s crazy, ain’t it?” said Reddick, who became the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two NASCAR Cup Series races of the season. “I just found a way to get back in the top five, and I tried to stay committed to somebody.”

He got a helpful push from runner-up Chase Briscoe. Ross Chastain finished third, followed by the Spire Motorsports tandem of Carson Hocevar (who triggered a large crash in the first overtime) and Daniel Suarez.

“Tyler had like another gear,” Chastain said. “(He had) no fender, and he pulled us so fast.”

In a race that featured a track-record 57 lead changes, Wallace was first entering the final restart but shuffled to eighth. He still gained the second-most points (48) by winning the second stage and leading 46 laps.

“Tyler did an unbelievable job,” Jordan said. “I feel bad for Bubba because he had an unbelievable day. But Tyler drove his ass off. I’m very happy for Tyler. I’m very happy for 23XI.”

Green turns to yellow

Austin Cindric took advantage of a stretch of 61 green-flag laps to open the race, winning the first stage after starting 30th.

It was the second consecutive year that the first stage in the February race was completed without a yellow flag – an oddity for a track known for chaos since its 2022 reconfiguration into a high-banked drafting oval.

The cautions quickly picked up pace in the second stage with three yellow flags in 40 laps that collected 16 cars and eliminated notable drivers Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch. The 160-lap middle segment ended under another yellow when defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson slammed the outside wall after a collision with Shane van Gisbergen.

No Las Vegas love lost

Busch was perturbed after his No. 8 Chevrolet “got rammed” exiting Turn 2 by the No. 4 Ford of Noah Gragson on the 125th lap.

Though both drivers hail from Las Vegas, Nevada, the 40-year-old Busch felt little kinship in taking issue with the aggressive style of Gragson, who is 13 years younger.

“He didn’t give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before hitting me or get into me gently to try and get the momentum back,” said Busch, who finished 33rd. “He just drove right through me.”

Up next

The NASCAR Cup Series will race at the Circuit of the Americas, the first road course of the 2026 season, on Sunday, March 1. Christopher Bell outdueled Kyle Busch and William Byron to win at the Austin, Texas, track last year.

- Associated Press

MJ FOR THE WIN: REDDICK PULLS OFF A TALLADEGA BUZZER-BEATER FOR MICHAEL JORDAN

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 TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — So much for Michael Jordan being a jinx at the race track.

The Basketball Hall of Famer celebrated as if he was still on the court after Tyler Reddick stole a NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway, speeding across the line after front-runner Michael McDowell — swerving back and forth in a desperate bid to hold the lead — crashed with the finish line in sight.

It was another wild Talladega finish — and marked the first time that Jordan, co-owner of the 23XI Racing along with Denny Hamlin, has been at the track to witness a victory for one of his drivers.

“Denny keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track, and today we proved him wrong,” a beaming Jordan said in Victory Lane. “I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win we can have a good celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here.”

AP Photo 

McDowell, the pole-sitter, dominated the closing laps and was in position to give Ford its much-needed first victory of the year. But his desperate efforts to block Keselowski, another Ford driver, wound up costing them both.

McDowell spun out, Keselowski had to check up and Reddick sped by to claim his sixth career Cup victory by 0.208 seconds.

A pile of cars behind them were taken out, as well. Corey LaJoie's No. 7 machine slid across the finish line on its side, pinned against the wall in front of the massive grandstands.

Reddick climbed out of his No. 45 car and scurried up the fence like Spider-Man.

“Was that crazy, guys?” he screamed to the fans. “That was chaos. That’s Talladega for you.”

For Jordan, it sparked memories of his former life, the one where he won six NBA championships and hit countless buzzer-beaters.

Yet make no mistake: Jordan's passion these days is stock car racing.

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“To me, this is like an NBA playoff game," the 61-year-old said. “For us to win a big race like this, it means so much to me. I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball. But this is even worse, because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I’d have total control. But I have no control, so I live vicariously through the drivers, crew chiefs and everybody.”

Keselowski settled for the runner-up spot, failing again to pick up his first win since he triumphed three years ago at this 2.66-mile trioval in east Alabama.

“We went to make a move and Michael covered it,” Keselowski said. “We went the other way and had nowhere to go when Michael came back down. It's just the way this stuff goes.”

McDowell was apologetic to Keselowski and everyone who crashed behind him.

“He pushed me out. I drove back to him and was able to get in front of him that very first time. But when I came back down, I barely wasn't clear,” McDowell said. “It's Talladega. You're going for it, trying to get a win. We just came up short and took a lot of guys out with me."

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Reddick's victory redeemed a botched strategy that knocked out a bunch of Toyota contenders, including Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

All three Toyota teams pitted in tandem with 37 laps to go, going with a strategy that would've allowed them to push the pace on the rest of the fuel-saving field — with an idea of drafting all the way to the front for the checkered flag.

Unfortunately, they couldn't keep their cars straight.

Just four laps later, with the Toyota train running at a blistering, single-file pace and chasing down the lead pack, John Hunter Nemechek appeared to get into the bumper of Bubba Wallace, who is Reddick's teammate at 23XI. Wallace then clipped Erik Jones, which sent him smashing hard into the outside wall.

Nemechek then slid down the track and took out Hamlin, as well.

“We had a plan,” Wallace said. “We just didn't execute it as well as we should have. I hate it. It doesn't make us look good at all.”

Jones took the brunt of the blow, a crash that would've been much worse without the sturdy cars and foamy barriers.

He was initially examined and released from the infield care center, saying “I’m a little sore, but I’m all right." But Jones' team announced after the race that he was transported to a hospital for further observation, providing no details on the nature of his injuries.

Reddick was at the front of the pack and avoided the crash.

In the end, he was able to celebrate an improbable win.

Always one to deliver a well-timed verbal jab, Jordan couldn't resist taking a poke at his co-owner, who was headed for the exits until he realized Reddick had won.

“Actually. he did a good job of wrecking,” Jordan said of Hamlin, “so we could get up front. That was actually pretty good.”

CLEAN RACING

Unlike the wacky finish, the first two stages were caution-free — the first time that’s happened at Talladega since the stage system was instituted in 2017. Many drivers were focused on saving fuel and there weren’t many bold moves.

Finally, on lap 132, with the cars three-wide and tightly bunched in the middle of a huge train, the first occurred.

Justin Haley got a bump from behind and went spinning into Christopher Bell, whose car sustained heavy damage that left him with a last-place finish.

IMPRESSIVE KIWI

Shane Van Gisbergen turned in a strong run in the first oval race of his burgeoning NASCAR Cup career.

The stunning winner of the Chicago street race in his Cup debut last summer, Van Gisbergen showed the depth of his talent by leading laps and staying out of trouble at the harrowing 2.66-mile trioval until the very end.

Unfortunately for the 34-year-old from New Zealand, he got caught up in the final melee and didn't make it across the line. He finished 27th.

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STARTING AT THE BACK

Season points leader Kyle Larson started the race with a huge disadvantage after his team was penalized for altering the roof rails on his No. 5 car on the way to the qualifying line Saturday.

Larson, who had won three straight poles, was barred from qualifying, forced to start from the back of the field and ordered to do a drive-through penalty on the opening lap. He was least a half-lap behind the field by the time he got up to speed and, without anyone to draft with, was caught by the leaders on the 12th lap.

NASCAR also ejected Larson’s car chief, Jesse Saunders, from the speedway.

Larson was able to work his way back into the mix but he wasn't a contender at the end. He finished 20th.

UP NEXT

The Cup series heads next Sunday to Dover Motor Speedway, where Martin Truex Jr. won the race a year ago.

- PAUL NEWBERRY