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Denny Hamlin reacts to epic Tyler Reddick push to win at Atlanta: ‘Dale Earnhardt could never’

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Nick Geddes | Last updated Feb 23, 2026 8:56 PM ET

Tyler Reddick was shot out of a cannon off the Lap 244 restart during Sunday’s race at Atlanta, in which he went from 20th to third in a span of three laps. Remarkably, Reddick still managed to have a fast race car with his entire right-front fender missing from damage sustained in an earlier wreck.

By the end of the Sunday’s race, Reddick was celebrating in Victory Lane. His journey from wrecked race car to race winner started with that particular restart, which 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin described as Dale Earnhardt esque.

“Dale Earnhardt could never, Hamlin said with a laugh on Tuesday’s Actions Detrimental. “Just kidding. But, remember, Dale’s big thing was 18th to third.”

Wild restart from @TylerReddick that took him from the back of the lead lap all the way up to 3rd.

It sounds like @NickPayne45 got a workout here. pic.twitter.com/2MiGbFK3hN
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) February 23, 2026

Earnhardt was the master of superspeedway racing, known for making up sizeable ground in a short amount of time. Hamlin saw similarities in what Reddick was able to do Atlanta, perhaps even more impressive.

“I think Tyler’s happened in a much shorter amount of time. I love it that people are gonna get so triggered,” Hamlin said. “… It was incredible watching him. He held the bottom and it just looked like he could hold more gas than everybody else and then everyone was washing up top, everyone’s pushing. But it was amazing to watch. He got to the front really, really quickly.”

Tyler Reddick didn’t need a right-front fender to win at Atlanta

With a beat up race car, Reddick found his way back to the front to go back-to-back to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Reddick joins Matt Kenseth (2009), Jeff Gordon (1997), David Pearson (1976), Bob Welborn (1959), and Marvin Panch (1957) as drivers to win the first two events of a Cup campaign, according to Joseph Srigley of TobyChristie.com.

Reddick went winless in 2025. The breaks, of which you need to win, never fell his way. They did last Sunday in the Daytona 500 and again this Sunday at Atlanta.

“This place over the years, man, it just puts on some amazing racing and handling matters here, but I don’t know,” Reddick said. “I guess determination outweighs handling.”

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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