Tyler Reddick could snap a 77-year NASCAR Cup Series streak at COTA

For the second week in a row to begin the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick was in Victory Lane after Sunday's Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

Despite losing his right front fender and being involved in a multi-car crash with 37 laps remaining, Reddick made the winning move as the field received the white flag, ending a 16-year Cup Series streak in the process.

With both 23XI Racing drivers in the top two in the standings, Reddick and Bubba Wallace have the organization looking at a breakthrough season just two races in. Of course, the first two races have been on superspeedways, but Reddick's ability to put himself in position late in each race and make the correct maneuvers when he needed to should not be ignored.

As the series prepares for a trip west to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas for the season's first road course race, Reddick is once again a driver who comes to mind.

Trackhouse Racing teammates Shane van Gisbergen and rookie Connor Zilisch are known for their road racing background and will likely be the ones to beat, but Reddick is not far behind them.

After all, three of Reddick's 10 career wins have come at road courses (Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and COTA). Granted, his win at COTA came on the full-course layout, not the version that has been utilized since a year ago, but Reddick should still be one of the favorites on Sunday and have a chance at more history if he tacks on a second win there.

Tyler Reddick trying to add to historic start

If Reddick outlasts the field on Sunday, he will become the first driver to win the first three races of a Cup Series season in the series' 78-year history, which would further highlight his versatility as a driver who has also earned each of his first 10 wins at different tracks.

According to NASCAR Insights, Reddick and Alex Bowman are the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all five Cup Series races at COTA. With that level of consistency and the momentum he brings in, everything is in front of Reddick to achieve another NASCAR first.

With four straight top 10 finishes on road and street courses overall and five in his six most recent starts, Reddick has become one of the more consistent drivers on such layouts.

He has only led a combined 12 laps during that span, but if he has proven anything by only leading the final lap at Daytona and overcoming the damage at EchoPark Speedway, it is that he does not have to dominate a race to be a factor at the end.

He may not be in the same group as van Gisbergen after 2025, or potentially even Zilisch, who impressed in his Cup debut at COTA one year ago before he was collected in a crash. That does not mean he cannot be among the frontrunners when the laps are winding down. In that 2025 race, Kyle Busch and van Gisbergen dominated, but it was Christopher Bell who picked up the win after only pacing the field for eight laps.

Sunday's DuraMAX Grand Prix at COTA will be a much different beast than the opening two races of the season, but if Reddick continues his torrid pace thus far, he might just make some more history and keep the momentum rolling as the more traditional tracks begin to take over the schedule.