Through the first three races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, it's a 23XI Racing 1-2 atop the point standings, and even if NASCAR hadn't boosted the value of race wins by 15 points heading into the year, that would still be the case.
After becoming the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two races of a season, Tyler Reddick became the first driver in the 78-year history of the Cup Series to win the first three. 23XI Racing is the first team since Petty Enterprises in 1963 to open up a season with three consecutive victories.
Teammate Bubba Wallace easily could have won both the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), but even without doing so, he still entered Circuit of the Americas (COTA) second in the standings. And even with his first finish outside of the top 10 this year at COTA, he retained P2.
Bubba Wallace success puts new spin on Tyler Reddick dominance
Considering how long Wallace has been ridiculously criticized as a driver who supposedly shouldn't have a seat, even though he has now been to the playoffs twice and won three races, the fact that he's second in the point standings, and notably 51 points above the playoff cut line in a season where season-long points matter more than they have since 2013 due to the offseason format change, is a massive boost.
Still, consider this. Wallace hasn't finished higher than eighth place, yet he is the closest driver to Reddick, who hasn't lost, in the standings.
It gets even better than that. Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott is in third place, and he has yet to finish inside the top three. Team Penske's Ryan Blaney is in fourth, and like Wallace, he has yet to finish higher than eighth.
Then there's Reddick, whose average finish is 1.00. And even though he only led the final lap of the Daytona 500, his form in recent weeks has seen him shoot to the top of the laps led chart with 112. Wallace is second with 86.
You have to drop all the way down to Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen and Team Penske's Joey Logano, who are tied for fifth, to find the top drivers (other than Reddick) in the standings who have actually finished a single race as high as they rank in the standings.
Van Gisbergen finished second at COTA, and Logano finished third in the Daytona 500 (but hasn't been higher than 15th since).
Reddick's lead over Wallace is 70 points, and it would still be 25 if wins were still worth 40 points rather than 55. With the regular season champion set to receive a massive boost (100 extra points, 25 more than the second-place driver) to start the 10-race postseason, Reddick could not have asked for a better start.
And the fact that his top competition hasn't yet finished inside the top seven just goes to show how much of a different level he's been on through three races.
Can Reddick become the first driver to win four straight races since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 this weekend? Tune in to 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 8 for the live broadcast of the Straight Talk Wireless 500 from Phoenix Raceway. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!