Tyler Reddick wins at Atlanta to
give Michael Jordan second straight NASCAR Cup victory
[February 23, 2026]
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Whether on or off the racetrack, all
Michael Jordan does is win in NASCAR.
For the second consecutive Sunday to open the season, the basketball
great and co-owner of 23XI Racing celebrated in victory lane with
driver Tyler Reddick. This time, after a thriller at Echo Park
Speedway.
Jordan’s team now has the top two drivers in the Cup Series points
standings with Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The six-time NBA champion
already added a ring last week with Reddick in the Daytona 500, the
crown jewel of stock-car racing.
Oh, and Jordan also settled a federal antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR
in December, a major legal victory that secured a permanent
franchise-style model and ensured his team would remain in business
for the long-term.
“The guys worked hard all summer, and I know we had our little
ordeal,” Jordan said after Reddick’s victory Sunday, referring to
the bruising court battle that ended with him making peace with
NASCAR CEO and chairman Jim France. “They kept working hard and this
is the fruit of their labor. They put forth the effort, and for us
to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our whole
team.”
It especially says a lot about Reddick, who put on another dazzling
performance the week after he became the fourth driver in history to
win the Daytona 500 by leading only the final lap.
This time, he led a race-high 53 laps on the 1.54-mile oval south of
Atlanta – including the final two in a double-overtime restart. He
snatched the lead from Wallace despite the right-front fender of his
No. 45 Toyota being damaged in a nine-car crash on the 224th of a
scheduled 260 laps. Reddick fell two laps down for repairs but came
roaring back from 27th for his 10th career victory.
“I mean, that’s crazy, ain’t it?” said Reddick, who became the first
driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two NASCAR Cup
Series races of the season. “I just found a way to get back in the
top five, and I tried to stay committed to somebody.”
He got a helpful push from runner-up Chase Briscoe. Ross Chastain
finished third, followed by the Spire Motorsports tandem of Carson
Hocevar (who triggered a large crash in the first overtime) and
Daniel Suarez.
“Tyler had like another gear,” Chastain said. “(He had) no fender,
and he pulled us so fast.”
In a race that featured a track-record 57 lead changes, Wallace was
first entering the final restart but shuffled to eighth. He still
gained the second-most points (48) by winning the second stage and
leading 46 laps.
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Tyler Reddick wins a 2026 NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Feb.
22, , in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
“Tyler did an unbelievable job,” Jordan said. “I feel bad for Bubba
because he had an unbelievable day. But Tyler drove his ass off. I’m
very happy for Tyler. I’m very happy for 23XI.”
Green turns to yellow
Austin Cindric took advantage of a stretch of 61 green-flag laps to
open the race, winning the first stage after starting 30th.
It was the second consecutive year that the first stage in the
February race was completed without a yellow flag – an oddity for a
track known for chaos since its 2022 reconfiguration into a
high-banked drafting oval.
The cautions quickly picked up pace in the second stage with three
yellow flags in 40 laps that collected 16 cars and eliminated
notable drivers Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle
Busch. The 160-lap middle segment ended under another yellow when
defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson slammed the outside wall
after a collision with Shane van Gisbergen.
No Las Vegas love lost
Busch was perturbed after his No. 8 Chevrolet “got rammed” exiting
Turn 2 by the No. 4 Ford of Noah Gragson on the 125th lap.
Though both drivers hail from Las Vegas, Nevada, the 40-year-old
Busch felt little kinship in taking issue with the aggressive style
of Gragson, who is 13 years younger.
“He didn’t give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before
hitting me or get into me gently to try and get the momentum back,”
said Busch, who finished 33rd. “He just drove right through me.”
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series will race at the Circuit of the Americas, the
first road course of the 2026 season, on Sunday, March 1.
Christopher Bell outdueled Kyle Busch and William Byron to win at
the Austin, Texas, track last year.
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