Can anyone stop Reddick from lifting the NASCAR Cup title?

Prior to the Texas round, 10 races into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick sat comfortably atop the championship standings with a 110-point buffer to his closest competition. After going winless last year, the 23XI Racing Toyota driver has been breaking records left and right early in the 2026 season. 

Following a dramatic last-lap pass to win the Daytona 500, Reddick went on to become the first driver to win the opening three races of a new season – including a victory at the Circuit of The Americas, where he ended Shane van Gisbergen’s road course win streak. 

At the time of writing, the Californian has five victories in the first 10 races of the year. This is a level of early-season dominance NASCAR has not seen in almost 40 years. As team co-owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan said after his latest triumph: “This kid is on fire, I don’t know if I can cool him down. He’s unbelievable.”

So, what has changed for Reddick? His winless 2025 campaign can at least be partially explained by the fact that Reddick’s focus was elsewhere due to a serious medical emergency with his newborn son that has since been resolved. But he also faced constant questions over a bitter lawsuit involving his team and the France family that runs NASCAR.

That high-profile saga was a dispute over the sport’s Charter agreement, with accusations of illegal monopolistic practices, and ended in a settlement last December in what was seen as big win for Jordan. Since then, NASCAR has shaken up its leadership, and Jim France recently stepped back from his position of CEO (while still holding the position of chairman). 

There’s no doubt that, with these two issues now in the rearview, Reddick had a renewed focus entering the 2026 season. It also helps that the Toyotas are just very fast at the moment. Chevrolet is struggling to wrap its arms around an updated Camaro ZL1 body, and Ford just doesn’t have the week-to-week pace to keep up.

Reddick is also a clever racer; Denny Hamlin (Reddick’s boss alongside Jordan) has led three times as many laps but has just one win to show for it. Reddick has positioned himself perfectly to steal three of those five wins in the closing laps. 

He’s also unflappable in the face of adversity, and solid when the pressure is on. Reddick was involved in a late-race crash at Atlanta and, while missing an entire fender, still charged through the field on fresh tyres to win the race.

Reddick (#45) wins the Daytona 500 as rivals crash behind him

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

At Darlington, he overcame electrical issues, a malfunctioning cool suit, a pitroad mishap, and even a mid-race battery change to win the day. In his most recent triumph in Kansas, he was in the wall and shouting about running out of fuel when a race-altering caution flew, and surged from fourth to first in overtime despite contact on the final restart. His biggest win of the year came in the Daytona 500, and he only led the final lap. 

What we have here is a team motivated after a tense legal fight against the most powerful people in NASCAR, a highly capable level-headed racer who simply cannot be rattled, and a very fast car all coming together at the same time. This formula is making the #45 team near-unstoppable at the moment. Reddick also just signed a new contract extension with the team, and added a new partner in Rockstar Energy.

However, the one thing that might slow him down is the points format. NASCAR changed its championship system ahead of the 2026 season, taking the unpredictability out of it all and creating something less radical.

After the 26th race of the year, the standings will be reset and the leader will be given a 25-point buffer, which sounded great at the time… until Reddick’s recent run made that advantage seem a bit less helpful.

Hamlin also drives a Toyota and is a formidable opponent who does not care that he owns the #45 car when they’re racing for the win

So, they will have to keep this momentum rolling all the way into the fall, when they will ultimately lose a good chunk of the massive buffer they’ve created for themselves. Now, that’s not what NASCAR intended, but who could have predicted the kind of dominance we are currently seeing? 

And if anyone is going to challenge Reddick, his most likely rival will be the co-owner of 23XI Racing: Hamlin also drives a Toyota and is a formidable opponent who does not care that he owns that #45 car when they’re racing for the win. That’s not bluster, as we saw last fall, when Hamlin pushed 23XI driver Bubba Wallace into the wall in a bid to win in Kansas, which ultimately ended Wallace’s title hopes. 

Unless the other teams can catch up over the summer, and as long as 23XI doesn’t lose its edge, the 2026 season is starting to look like a battle between Reddick and Hamlin, driver versus owner. And, after 20 previous failed attempts to become a champion, Hamlin is not going to back down to anyone, even the star driver who works for him.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the June 2026 issue and subscribe today. 

Will Hamlin (right) pose the greatest threat to Reddick’s championship hopes?

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images