Tyler Reddick goes back-to-back by winning at Atlanta
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
HAMPTON, Ga.—Tyler Reddick answered his DAYTONA 500 victory a week ago with a dramatic double overtime comeback win Sunday evening in the AutoTrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway, marking the first time in nearly two decades a driver has won the first two races of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
Even though Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota’s right front fender was damaged in an earlier incident, he was able to persevere, zigging-and-zagging and making a strong move to the front on the very last lap. He finished a mere .164-second ahead of fellow Toyota driver, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe who gave Reddick the crucial winning push to get ahead of his 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace and the Chevrolets of Carson Hocevar and Ross Chastain.
Reddick’s work makes him only the sixth driver in NASCAR history to win the opening two races of the year. NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth was the last to do so in 2009.
Reddick, who actually led a race best 53 of the 271 laps, jumped out of his damaged Toyota Camry to retrieve the checkered flag, pausing to take a long look at the right front damage – and missing fender – then smiling and wondering aloud how he pulled that victory off as well after being collected in a nine-car accident only 40 laps from the end of the scheduled distance.
“That’s crazy, how about that EchoPark Speedway?’’ the 30-year old Californian yelled to the packed grandstands. “This place over the years it just puts on some amazing racing. Handling matters here, but I don’t know, I guess determination outweighs handling.”
His team co-owner, NBA legend Michael Jordan was equally as jubilant with Reddick’s rebound.
“Tyler did an unbelievable job, both teams did an unbelievable job’’ Jordan said, also referring to Wallace, who led 46 laps but finished eighth in the final all-out push to the checkers.
“I wanted one of them to win, I feel bad for Bubba because he had an unbelievable day, but Tyler drove his ass off,’’ Jordan continued. “I’m very happy for Tyler and very happy for 23XI.
“The guys worked hard all summer and they never gave up. This is the fruit of their labor and for us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our team.’
Reddick’s crew chief Billy Scott revealed post-race that the temperatures were so cold – 39 degrees at the checkered flag – that it was difficult to fully repair the car after the accident and had to resort to heavy tape on the front end of Reddick’s damaged Camry. Team co-owner, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin said of Reddick’s car, “It looked like carnage city.’’
The Chevrolets of Trackhouse Racing Ross Chastain and Spire Motorsports teammates Hocevar and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-five behind Reddick and Briscoe.
In another phenomenal comeback story, Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane Van Gisbergen finished sixth his best oval finish in his two years in the series – even after the former Australian Supercars Series champion was caught up in three of the yellow flag incidents on the day.
Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, Wallace, Roush-Fenway-Keselowski’s Ryan Preece and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10 in a race where the top 12 cars finished within a second of the race winner. Nine of the race’s 14 leaders led double-digit laps.
It was all indicative of the competitive nature now expected and delivered by this high-banked 1.5-miler that races like the famed Daytona and Talladega, Ala. speedways.
Drafting partners are important and the young driver Hocevar said he just couldn’t entice anyone to draft with him late. So, he took off by himself passing three cars in one daring move in the final lap of regulation to position himself up front. However, he made contact with 2025 race winner, Christopher Bell, on the first overtime restart drawing the final caution.
It put Hocevar alongside Wallace on the front row for the final green flag. Wallace got the jump on the start and held the point until making a move high on the track, that allowed Reddick to come from below and blow past them both.
With his Atlanta win, Reddick now leads his teammate Wallace by 40 points atop the championship standings.
“It’s really fun to be a part of 23XI right now,’’ Jordan said grinning.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to its first road course of the season next week for the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Austin’s famed Circuit of the Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Autotrader 400
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia
Sunday, February 22, 2026
1 (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 271.
2 (34) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 271.
3 (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 271.
4 (15) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 271.
5 (12) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 271.
6 (28) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 271.
7 (6) Zane Smith, Ford, 271.
8 (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 271.
9 (26) Ryan Preece, Ford, 271.
10 (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 271.
11 (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 271.
12 (19) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 271.
13 (29) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 271.
14 (11) Noah Gragson, Ford, 271.
15 (7) Chris Buescher, Ford, 271.
16 (17) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 271.
17 (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 271.
18 (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 271.
19 (24) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 271.
20 (20) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 271.
21 (32) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 271.
22 (27) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 270.
23 (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 269.
24 (23) Erik Jones, Toyota, 269.
25 (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 258.
26 (30) Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 257.
27 (18) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, Accident, 257.
28 (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 256.
29 (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 256.
30 (31) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, Accident, 223.
31 (38) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 220.
32 (16) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 160.
33 (8) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 157.
34 (14) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 124.
35 (37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Accident, 111.
36 (3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
37 (25) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, Accident, 81.
38 (10) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 81.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 117.865 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 32 Mins, 27 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.164 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 67 laps.
Lead Changes: 57 among 14 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Reddick 0;J. Logano 1;T. Reddick 2;J. Logano 3;T. Reddick 4-5;J. Logano 6-18;T. Reddick 19-23;B. Keselowski 24-28;T. Reddick 29;C. Elliott 30;B. Keselowski 31-33;T. Reddick 34;J. Logano 35-45;C. Elliott 46-53;K. Larson 54;C. Elliott 55-56;K. Larson 57;B. Wallace 58-59;A. Cindric 60-63;B. Keselowski 64;K. Larson 65-71;B. Wallace 72-79;K. Larson 80-87;S. Van Gisbergen 88;K. Larson 89-100;B. Wallace 101-102;T. Reddick 103-109;B. Wallace 110;T. Reddick 111-121;B. Wallace 122;T. Reddick 123-130;B. Wallace 131;T. Reddick 132-133;K. Larson 134-142;B. Wallace 143;K. Larson 144-149;C. Briscoe 150-155;K. Larson 156-159;B. Wallace 160-164;C. Hocevar 165;R. Blaney 166-169;Z. Smith 170;B. Keselowski 171;D. Hamlin 172-176;C. Briscoe 177-196;R. Blaney 197;C. Briscoe 198;B. Wallace 199-200;C. Hocevar 201;D. Hamlin 202-204;T. Reddick 205-206;D. Hamlin 207-208;T. Reddick 209-219;R. Blaney 220;A. Cindric 221-237;C. Bell 238-246;B. Wallace 247-269;T. Reddick 270-271.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Tyler Reddick 12 times for 53 laps; Kyle Larson 8 times for 48 laps; Bubba Wallace 10 times for 46 laps; Chase Briscoe 3 times for 27 laps; Joey Logano 4 times for 26 laps; Austin Cindric 2 times for 21 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 11 laps; Denny Hamlin 3 times for 10 laps; Brad Keselowski 4 times for 10 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 9 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 6 laps; Carson Hocevar 2 times for 2 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen 1 time for 1 lap; Zane Smith 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,23,5,24,9,45,8,22,88,12
Stage #2 Top Ten: 23,24,19,45,9,77,60,12,6,97
CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES STANDINGS
Points Report
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Autotrader 400
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 2/22/2026 @ 07:36 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
1. Tyler Reddick 45 2 0 125 0 0 2 0
2. Bubba Wallace 23 2 -6 85 -40 40 0 2
3. Chase Elliott 9 2 0 81 -44 4 0 0
4. Carson Hocevar 77 2 -5 74 -51 7 0 0
5. Zane Smith 38 2 1 71 -54 3 0 1
6. Joey Logano 22 2 4 68 -57 3 0 0
7. Daniel Suarez 7 2 -5 67 -58 1 0 0
8. Ryan Blaney 12 2 -2 67 -58 0 0 0
9. Brad Keselowski 6 2 3 61 -64 6 0 0
10. Chris Buescher 17 2 3 61 -64 0 0 0
11. Ross Chastain 1 2 -12 51 -74 10 0 0
12. Noah Gragson 4 2 -4 50 -75 1 0 0
13. William Byron 24 2 -5 50 -75 0 0 0
14. Ryan Preece 60 2 -10 49 -76 1 0 0
15. Chase Briscoe 19 2 -22 45 -80 4 0 0
16. Shane Van Gisbergen 97 2 -12 45 -80 0 0 0
17. Ty Dillon 10 2 -3 44 -81 1 0 0
18. AJ Allmendinger 16 2 -4 43 -82 1 0 0
19. John Hunter Nemechek 42 2 0 43 -82 0 0 0
20. Michael McDowell 71 2 3 43 -82 0 0 0
21. Kyle Larson 5 2 6 42 -83 1 0 0
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 2 17 40 -85 2 0 0
23. Riley Herbst 35 2 12 39 -86 1 0 0
24. Kyle Busch 8 2 10 36 -89 3 0 0
25. Josh Berry 21 2 12 34 -91 2 0 0
26. Austin Cindric 2 2 -3 34 -91 0 0 1
27. Denny Hamlin 11 2 -6 32 -93 2 0 0
28. Cody Ware 51 2 7 30 -95 2 0 0
29. Erik Jones 43 2 4 29 -96 1 0 0
30. Cole Custer 41 2 3 29 -96 0 0 0
31. Christopher Bell 20 2 0 25 -100 4 0 0
32. Alex Bowman 48 2 -4 18 -107 7 0 0
33. Ty Gibbs 54 2 7 17 -108 1 0 0
34. Austin Dillon 3 2 2 17 -108 0 0 0
35. Todd Gilliland 34 2 0 16 -109 1 0 0
36. Connor Zilisch # 88 2 2 14 -111 2 0 0
37. Casey Mears 1 7 9 -116 5 0 0
38. * BJ McLeod 78 2 0 3 -122 6 0 0
39. Corey Heim(i) 1 0 0 -125 3 0 0
40. * JJ Yeley(i) 44 1 -4 0 -125 0 0 0
41. Justin Allgaier(i) 1 1 0 -125 0 0 0
42. Corey LaJoie 0 1 0 -125 0 0 0
43. Anthony Alfredo(i) 0 1 0 -125 0 0 0
44. Chandler Smith(i) 0 1 0 -125 0 0 0
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