Tyler Reddick lands Rockstar Energy sponsorship as brand returns to NASCAR

Rockstar is coming back to NASCAR. And it’s partnering with Tyler Reddick, one of the hottest drivers in the sport, early in the 2026 season.

Sports Business Journal reported the new partnership, which Rockstar had teased on Wednesday afternoon with a post to Instagram Reels. The post featured a simple, short video. It was a close-up shot of a man’s hand with a Daytona 500 champion ring on it, holding a gold Rockstar can.

Fan speculation ran rampant that it was Tyler Reddick, the most recent Daytona 500 champion. Visible on the opposite hand was a wedding band, and Reddick is, in fact, married.

Per SBJ, Rockstar has confirmed that it will sponsor 23XI’s No. 45 Toyota in select NASCAR Cup Series races this year. Monster has previously sponsored Reddick but moved away from the partnership in 2026.

The first primary paint scheme for Reddick featuring Rockstar will come at Talladega, with terms as yet unknown. Assets include “branding on the team’s materials and 18-wheel transporter in addition to the race car and using Reddick in marketing campaigns and digital media programming.”

Rockstar last appeared in NASCAR more than a decade ago. Driver Dylan Kwasniewski featured a scheme with Rockstar on it at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series level. SBJ notes that, now under the Celsius Holdings banner, Rockstar is embarking on “a broader marketing revamp to boost the drink.”

The company likely can’t get a better partner — or at least a more in-form one — Tyler Reddick right now. He is red hot out of the gates in the 2026 season and leads the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.

Reddick accomplished a feat no one else in Cup Series history has to start the year. He won the first three races of the season, taking the checkered flag at Daytona, Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas.

He later won the race at Darlington, securing his fourth victory of the season. With only eight races to date, Reddick has won half of this season’s events.

Perhaps more impressively, even Tyler Reddick’s non-wins have been electric. He has secured a fourth-place finish at Bristol, an eighth-place finish at Phoenix and his worst outings are a 13th-place result at Las Vegas and a 15th-place finish at Martinsville.