Tyler Reddick Goes Back-to-Back in Atlanta

February 23, 2026

February 23, 2026 | Edition #608

Hey, NASCAR Fans!

Echopark Speedway might be the best superspeedway track in NASCAR right now. This is the feeling many of the fans felt after yet another blockbuster Cup race in Atlanta. The Autotrader 400 had it all, from record lap changes, wrecks, and late-race drama.

For a moment, it looked like Carson Hocevar would finally finish the job after last year’s disappointment. But Tyler Reddick had a different idea, which led to a thrilling double-overtime finish.

Stage 1: A total of 17 drivers swapped the lead in the first stage. While Bubba Wallace managed to keep himself up front, it was Austin Cindric who bagged the stage win.

Stage 2: The intensity picked up after the pit cycle, which led to multiple on-track incidents. Wallace, again in the thick of things, fell just shy of winning Stage 2 against William Byron.

Stage 3: It became a Chevy vs. Toyota showdown right at the end, and Tyler Reddick once again pulled off a big win in the clutch moment.

Unlike the Daytona 500 win, Reddick faced multiple issues in Atlanta. A wrecked race car missing the right front fender isn’t the winning horse you’re supposed to bet on. But, for some reason, the California native makes it happen. And it was arguably one of his most resilient drives to claim a Cup Series win.

Reddick started the race from the pole and was in contention up front along with his teammate in the second stage. However, with some 40 laps to go in the race, he got collected in a crash along with eight other race cars. The #45 crew did their magic, but the right front bumper on the wheel was nowhere to be found.

Surprisingly, it was the team owner, Denny Hamlin, who sparked the crash that took out Reddick. But this wasn’t the last incident of the race, and it allowed the 23XI Racing driver to recover. Just when it looked like the race was headed for a normal finish, chaos ensued. William Byron got loose and took out a bunch of cars with four laps to go, setting up an overtime finish.

Carson Hocevar was in the mix, and so was Christopher Bell. Hocevar tried to thread the needle on the first overtime attempt, and that sent Bell crashing out of the race. Now Wallace had control with Reddick behind him, and it genuinely looked like the No. 23 had a shot at a win.

Then came the second overtime attempt, and surprisingly, Wallace gave up the position on the inside lane and threw a block to stop Hocevar’s run on the high lane. Hocevar played it smart and got to the lead with the No. 45 right beside him. Both of them were involved in a drag race, but Reddick suddenly had help with Chase Briscoe pushing him up front, and it proved decisive.

The Toyotas worked together and didn’t allow the trailing pack to make any move on the final lap. Without a strong run, Briscoe couldn’t make a charge for the lead, and this allowed Reddick to cruise to the start-finish line. Here’s the video of the thrilling race finish in case you missed the action.

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The second stage had some nasty crashes, which disrupted the flow of the race. Riley Herbst got tight and clipped Austin Dillon, which sparked a major wreck. The likes of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, and BJ McLeod were all caught up in this mess. Take a look at this incident that fueled more crashes later.

Everyone was keen on collecting stage points, and the intensity only picked up further at the end of the second stage. This time around, the front-runners became a little too impatient. Coming off the final corner, Kyle Larson made a wild switch from the high lane to the bottom without knowing that SVG had momentum.

The HMS driver tagged the No. 97 Red Bull car and, while trying to correct his mistake, ended up crashing hard into the wall. It was a bitter end to the race for the defending champion. Larson even admitted his mistake in this interview after being cleared by the infield care center.

This trend continued in the final stage. It was Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano who sparked a big one in Atlanta, which collected nine cars in total. Both cars were coming out of Turn 4, and Logano tried to block off Hamlin’s run in the top lane. The JGR driver couldn’t react in time, and with the momentum, he rammed into the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick and spun several cars that were in the trailing pack.

AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, and Connor Zilisch all suffered damage after being caught up in this mess. Check out the video of the crash. This was the same wreck that tore the right front bumper off Reddick’s car.

However, the crash that really changed the outcome of the race came with just four laps to go, and William Byron was at the center of it. The HMS driver was fighting a loose race car, and he stalled with traffic behind him coming at full speed. The next thing you know, a total of 11 cars got piled up in this mess.

This incident forced NASCAR to drop a red flag for 10 minutes and eventually set up the double-overtime finish.

We have successfully wrapped up our weekly prediction challenge after an entertaining week in Atlanta. Like last week, you guys came up with some bold picks, and the competition was as intense as the racing on track.

So much so that we had to rely on our tiebreaker to get our final winner of this week.

This week’s ultimate bragging rights go to: Liam!

You take home a $25 Amazon gift card, while other notable finishers also deserve a spot on our weekly leaderboard.

This isn’t the end of the contest; if anything, we’re getting started. This weekly prediction will return next week as a part of a season-long marathon. So make sure you come prepared.

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Bubba Wallace: Two races in a row and two missed opportunities—Wallace just can’t seem to get across the finish line. The move he made on Hocevar backfired, and he didn’t shy away from accepting that in the post-race interview. “I have to go back and see. I didn’t think I moved up that much to allow — to put myself up top, top of three. Unfortunate, but man, what a race car we had today.”

Carson Hocevar: Despite leading the final lap of the race, things turned sour for the Spire Motorsports driver. After bumping Kyle Busch to a win in the Truck race, he didn’t have any friends when he needed them the most. Even in this disappointing moment, he found something funny about the finish. Listen to his entire post-race interview here.

Christopher Bell: The JGR driver was pretty calculated in his reaction after being crashed out of the lead by Hocevar. Bell was in the lead during the first overtime attempt, but the Spire driver tried to thread the needle in a tight spot. It was an aggressive move, but it came at the cost of the No. 20 car spinning on the track from the lead.

Chase Briscoe: Many felt that Briscoe had the opportunity to contest the win against Reddick. However, there were some limitations on the No. 19 Camry that the driver expressed in his interaction with the media. “I would say the one thing that our car lacked all day was straightaway speed. It drove good, and I could make moves, but it felt like I was slow down the straightaway,” Briscoe said after the race.

Michael Jordan: Perhaps the happiest person, alongside Reddick, was MJ. After a memorable Daytona 500 victory, this win cemented 23XI Racing’s presence as a true contender. While it is early in the season, the momentum this team has caught the top dogs off guard. Yet in this moment of elation, MJ tipped his hat to Bubba for yet another resilient drive. Here’s his entire interview after the race win.

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