March 2, 2026

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick made NASCAR history by winning the DuraMAX Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, his third consecutive win to open the 2026 season. The No. 45 Toyota driver started the race in first after scoring the pole position in qualifying. In the first stage, Reddick focused on saving his tires and keeping the car in one piece, but this caused him to drop to the back half of the top 10. Although Reddick started to regain ground, he ended up pitting before the end of the first stage and dropped back to 18th, his final position at the end of the stage. In the second stage, Reddick shuffled back to the front after other drivers went to pit road for tires and fuel, taking the lead from Ryan Blaney. Reddick went on to dominate most of the stage until he pitted before the end of the second stage. Despite giving up the lead, Reddick maintained a large enough gap to the rest of the field outside of Ryan Blaney, who followed closely behind in the entire stage, to only fall to fifth, where he finished the stage. In the final stage, Reddick controlled the race once again from the lead after others went to pit road and never looked back. Despite Blaney and eventually Shane Van Gisbergen challenging Reddick for the win, the No. 45 driver could not be passed. No driver in modern NASCAR history has ever won the opening three races of the season until Reddick accomplished the feat this year, and also became the first driver to score two wins at COTA.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com