COTA win helped Tyler Reddick live up to a Michael Jordan standard

23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan had a reminder for driver Tyler Reddick ahead of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas. 

"He reminded me early this week, he does things in threes," Reddick said of the six-time NBA champion Sunday evening.

Reddick had a chance Sunday to become the first driver in NASCAR history to ever win the first three races of a season. And he did so, holding off Shane van Gisbergen in the closing laps to earn career win No. 11 in front of Jordan, who will also be at Phoenix Raceway on March 8 to watch Reddick try and extend his win streak.

"I was really glad to be able to live up to the standards that he has for us and be able to deliver three in a row," Reddick said. "That was really cool to share that moment with him."

Reddick, No. 45 team turning into NASCAR's 90s Bulls

Reddick and his No. 45 23XI Racing team might as well be the 1990s Chicago Bulls at the moment. After winning the season-opening Daytona 500 and the Feb. 22 race at Atlanta, Reddick won the pole at COTA on Saturday and led the most laps (58) of any driver en route to victory Sunday. 

As a result, he's opened up a 70-point lead over his 23XI Racing teammate, Bubba Wallace, in the Cup Series standings through three races.

"In this day and age of Cup racing, the Daytona 500 is so hard to win," Reddick said. "It’s so hard to survive at EchoPark Speedway, and we were able to do that. And to be able to hold off Shane at the end of that race to make it three in a row, yeah, it seems just very fitting that we had to go through the hurdles we did, especially these last two weeks, to pull this off."

There's still over eight months on the calendar to flip through before a 2026 Cup Series champion is crowned. But Reddick and the No. 45 group have thrown their hat in the ring already as a title favorite, and they certainly have a man with a championship pedigree in Jordan behind them. 

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.