Double Down: Tyler Reddick Turns Daytona Glory Into Atlanta Authority

Tyler Reddick was all smiles climbing out of his well-used noticeably nicked-up No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Sunday night at EchoPark Speedway after claiming his second win in as many NASCAR Cup Series races on the 2026 season.

A week ago, he led only the last lap to earn his first career DAYTONA 500 win and answered it by leading the most laps and starting on pole position to immediately hoist his second trophy of the season – and 10th of his career – Sunday night in the Autotrader 400 in Atlanta.

An hour after taking the checkered flag and hoisting his second trophy, the 30-year-old Californian was still shaking his head and proudly contemplating his perfect start to the season.

“Just to start it off that way, knowing how good we’ve been at these other places we have coming up, just really helps the confidence,” said Reddick, who also won at this week’s upcoming venue, the Circuit of The Americas road course in 2023.

“Keeps me extra motivated, especially, too, during the week to work hard, knowing what great opportunity we have in front of us to start.

“I mean, yeah, at some point we could get caught up in a wreck, we could have had a DNF [tonight]. But to start off like this, I think everyone is extremely hungry to just keep pressing onward, whether that’s winning races, winning stages, or just scoring points. We have a great opportunity in front of us to get off to a really good start.”

And not only has Reddick’s No. 45 team seized the day, the whole 23XI Racing operation is riding an incredible wave of success to open the season.

Reddick’s victories have given him the early lead atop the championship standings – a sizable 40-points up on none other than his teammate Bubba Wallace, who is also experiencing a most excellent start to the year.

Wallace finished 10th in the DAYTONA 500 and was leading Sunday night in Atlanta with a lap to go, only to finish seventh in the last lap shuffle to the checkered flag. Wallace’s 40 laps out front at Daytona were best in the field as were Reddick’s 53 laps out front at Atlanta.

And Reddick, Wallace and Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota, already upped the game for the entire organization – claiming the team’s very first top-10 sweep – Reddick’s win, Herbst’s eighth place and Wallace’s 10th place at Daytona.

“It’s very early, but it’s not by circumstance,” said team co-owner Denny Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “They’re running up front. They’re fast. Again, just doing a lot of the right things. We’re making up for lost time. Last year we didn’t have the wins that we expected as a race team, but they’re making up for it right now.

“It feels good certainly as a car owner knowing that you’ve got a couple of bullets in the gun. When the end of the race didn’t go Bubba’s way, you got another one there to pick it up. That certainly increases your odds of winning a lot of races when you’ve got multiple cars up front like we had tonight.”

NBA legend and co-owner of 23XI Racing, Michael Jordan was absolutely ecstatic after the DAYTONA 500 victory – celebrating the win with the entire organization and posing for photos cradling the iconic trophy. And he was equally as excited Sunday night at the team’s first ever back-to-back win.

“The guys worked hard all summer,” Jordan said. “They kept working hard, and this is the fruit of their labor. You know, they put forth the effort, and for us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our whole team.”

And the story only gets better. Although Reddick has admirably won all 10 of his career trophies at different tracks, next week he has to be considered a favorite to take his first repeat victory when the series competes in the DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Austin’s famed COTA road course (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Reddick won there in 2023 and is considered one of the sport’s best at turning left and right.

He goes to Austin having equaled an important and rare record as only the sixth driver in NASCAR history to win the opening two races of the season. Could he become the first ever to win the first three straight?

“Am I going to throw away a second place to do that? Probably not,” Reddick said considering the possibility with a smile. “But certainly, if at any point during this week I’m running out of reasons to be motivated to get the win, I’ll keep that in my back pocket, for sure.

“You know, it’s cool to have the opportunity to potentially do things like that, but for me, with where this season started and what I need to do as a driver, it’s all about just doing everything I can and showing up every week being as prepared as I can.

“But yeah, I’ll try and make that a reality.”