NASCAR DuraMax Grand Prix takeaways: Tyler Reddick achieves historic three-peat at COTA

Furthermore, the win makes 23XI Racing — the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — the first organization to accomplish the feat since Petty Enterprises in 1963. Reddick, meanwhile, is the first driver to win three straight at any point in a season since Christopher Bell won at EchoPark, COTA and Phoenix early in the 2025 season.

Unlike the win at EchoPark Speedway, though, when Reddick only led the final lap, he led a race-best 58 laps and never surrendered the lead in the closing moments. With a winless 2025 season behind him and a historic start to 2026, Reddick is in a league of his own right now, and everyone is still trying to catch him.

Shane van Gisbergen's own pursuit of history falls short

While Reddick achieved a first on his end, van Gisbergen was in position to do the same entering the weekend. After winning the last five road/street course races of 2025, a sixth consecutive triumph on Sunday would have tied him with Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for the most in the sport's history.

Instead, van Gisbergen only led two laps the entire race and was never able to mount any charge for the lead and maintain it throughout the day. There is at least a silver lining for the Kiwi as the runner-up at COTA was his second straight top 10 after recording his best Cup Series finish on an oval (sixth) at EchoPark Speedway one week ago.

Eventful day for Connor Zilisch ends just outside of the top 10

After numerous head-to-head battles with van Gisbergen in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series last season, many expected the rookie Zilisch to put up a fight for the win on Sunday. For most of the race, it was challenging to even have a chance.

After starting 25th, Zilisch slowly worked his way through the field and was toward the front on the Lap 25 restart when he was hit by Daniel Suarez and spun in Turn 1. Later, after Ross Chastain brought out the race's only caution for an incident with 21 laps remaining when his right-rear tire came off, Zilisch was once again collected in a multi-car spin with Zane Smith in Turn 1 on the race's final restart.

It was especially unfortunate for the rookie, considering he was one of the fastest cars on track during the green-flag run that preceded the final caution. In the end, Zilisch was able to salvage a 14th-place finish, which is at least a step up from his two finishes of 30th or worse to begin the season.