Tyler Reddick keeps making history, asserting himself as NASCAR's title favorite

The last time a NASCAR Cup Series driver won five of the first nine races in a season, Tyler Reddick wasn't even born yet. 

Reddick accomplished the feat Sunday at Kansas Speedway after passing Kyle Larson on the final lap of the AdventHealth 400, becoming the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to win five of the first nine races in a Cup Series campaign. 

And-oh-by-the-way, Earnhardt went on to win the 1987 championship by a staggering 489 points over Bill Elliott. 

A similar fate could await Reddick if his No. 45 team performs the way it has through the first quarter of 2026. 

"I’m loving that we’re seeing the fruits of that hard work paying off right now," Reddick said Sunday evening. "If anything, I think a couple weeks ago or couple wins ago, the question was, Now you’ve won two or three, do you settle in, get in a good rhythm and go? No. It’s let’s take advantage of how well we’re working together right now, see if we can continue to get the points, get the wins, while everyone is trying to figure it out and get it."

Perhaps Reddick's best trait in 2026 has been all the different ways in which he's been able to win. He straight-up beat the field at COTA and Darlington, clawed his way to the win with a damaged car at Atlanta and was opportunistic at both Daytona and Kansas on Sunday to get to victory lane. 

Reddick lost the lead to Denny Hamlin in the closing laps on Sunday afternoon before his Toyota stumbled, leading to him hitting the wall. Reddick initially thought he was out of fuel, but whatever the problem, it seemed fatal to his chances at victory. 

That was until a caution with two laps to go sent the race into overtime and re-racked the field, where an opportunistic Reddick got close enough to Larson to make the winning move. 

"Incredible job of just getting the most out of it, finding the right spot to put his car into side draft, take the air block, once he got clear, all that stuff, masterfully," said Billy Scott, the crew chief on Reddick's No. 45 Toyota. "I think he was a little more determined."

Like boss Michael Jordan, Tyler Reddick can't stop winning

Reddick now leads the Cup Series standings by 105 points going into Talladega, a track he won at in 2024, and got to celebrate another win with 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan. Jordan has been at the track for all five of Reddick's victories. 

"I mean, you can’t really discredit that," Reddick said. "I mean, it’s been pretty successful. I think the only one we didn’t win for him was Phoenix.

"I kind of joked about it. When the boss is here, we got to deliver for him. If he’s going to come hang out with us, take the time to be part of it, you want to reward his commitment to this team."

The commitment of Jordan and everyone at 23XI is becoming more clear with every passing week as Reddick continues to make history and assert himself as the Cup Series title favorite a quarter of the way through 2026.

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media