Entering the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, no driver had ever won more than six times in one year since the 2022 introduction of the Next Gen car. Nine races in, and Tyler Reddick has already won five.
On Sunday, Reddick won at Kansas Speedway in an overtime thriller. He seemed to have lost a spirited late-race battle with Denny Hamlin, but then the caution came out for a Cody Ware spin just prior to the white flag. The 23XI Racing driver rocketed around Kyle Larson on the final lap, continuing what has been a historic start to his campaign.
After the first two, it was just drafting track luck. Then he won at Circuit of the Americas and Darlington Raceway, two tracks he's always had a knack for. But after this one, it's time to start wondering just how special Reddick's season can end up being.
Tyler Reddick just keeps winning, and he's beginning to enter rarified territory
Reddick is on pace to have the best season of any Cup Series driver in the Next Gen era, and it's come virtually out of nowhere. Last year, he went winless while 23XI dealt with off-track turmoil. Now in only nine races, he's already cleared his laps led total from 2025 and has only one fewer top five finish.
At this point, it wouldn't be surprising to see Reddick end up winning seven, eight, or even nine or 10 races by the end of the year. Toyota is ahead of the competition in a way no manufacturer has been for a long time, and given Chevrolet's adjustments to the new body and Ford's underwhelming driver lineup (sans Ryan Blaney), it seems likely to stay that way.
There are some trends that suggest Reddick's success might be due for some regression. He ranks only fifth in the Cup Series in laps led, and he hasn't won a single stage. He has found victory lane every time he's even been in contention, and he needed some fortunate breaks on several of those occasions, including on Sunday.
But ultimately, if there's any skepticism, it's because Reddick isn't a driver anybody expected to be rattling off wins in bunches. No one considers him a talent on the same level as Larson or Blaney or Hamlin. Maybe they should, though.
Reddick isn't just making himself the clear Cup Series championship favorite for 2026. He's having one of the all-time dominant seasons in NASCAR history. We'll have to wait and see where it ends up stacking up against the greats.
Add us as a preferred source on Google