Reddick’s Three-Peat: History Made in the Texas Heat at COTA

 

Welcome to Circuit of the Americas, where NASCAR steps away from the comfort of the oval and into a road course built to test nerve, precision, and raw speed. When the green flag drops in Austin, the first thing the drivers see is sky, charging uphill toward Turn 1 in a violent 133-foot climb before cresting the corner and plunging downhill into the flowing esses. For the 2026 season, the NASCAR Cup Series runs the 17-turn, 2.3-mile National Course layout, a configuration introduced in 2025 that bypasses the old technical “hat” section by turning left after Turn 6 and using a new connector that shoots the field directly onto the back straight. From there engines scream toward nearly 170 miles per hour before drivers hammer the brakes for Turn 12, one of the most punishing braking zones in the sport, sending heat through the chassis and testing tire grip at the limit. The final sector tightens into a twisting series of corners and hairpins before the track finally spits the cars back onto the front straight beneath the towering red observation tower that overlooks the Texas hills. It is a circuit that never lets drivers settle, demanding rhythm, bravery, and discipline at every corner, and on this afternoon in Austin, with the grandstands full and the air buzzing with anticipation, the stage was set for a race that would have to be earned one turn at a time.

The Race Itself

Circuit of the Americas does not build gently. It rises from the Texas hills with the red and white observation tower spiraling into the sky, overlooking 3.41 miles of elevation changes, blind crests, and punishing braking zones. The field storms uphill into Turn 1, a 133 foot climb that compresses forty cars into a single braking point before the track unwinds through the esses, mimicking a Formula One ribbon of precision. Then comes the long backstretch, where drivers approach 170 miles per hour before slamming the brakes into Turn 12 and feeling the chassis shudder beneath them. This was the sixth year NASCAR has raced at COTA, and it drew the largest crowd in event history. The grandstands were packed and loud, a noticeably younger audience filling the hillsides. CH-47 Chinooks thundered across the sky before the green flag, shaking the fencing and reminding everyone that this was not just another Sunday. Tyler Reddick rolled off from the pole, chasing something that had never been done, three straight wins to open a NASCAR Cup season.

The heat quickly became its own storyline. Drivers consistently call COTA the hottest race of the year inside the cockpit, and that is not simply because of the Texas sun. Road courses demand constant braking, constant shifting, and constant body movement. Every heavy braking zone superheats the rotors, and that heat radiates directly into the footwell and firewall. Under caution, when airflow drops and the cars are no longer slicing through clean air, everything heat soaks and temperatures climb rapidly. Drivers routinely sweat out five pounds during an oval race. At COTA, it is often more. The cockpit becomes something closer to a rolling sauna. Track temperatures were measured at 109 degrees when the race began, turning the interior of the cars into a furnace long before the race reached its halfway point.

That is where the cool suit system comes in, and where things went wrong Sunday afternoon. A cool suit circulates ice cold water through thin tubes sewn into a shirt worn beneath the driver’s fire suit, cooling the chest, stomach, and back where the body stores the most heat. When it works, it can dramatically lower a driver’s core temperature and help maintain focus during long runs. But when the system fails, the effect reverses completely. The liquid continues circulating, only now it heats rapidly inside the car. Drivers describe it as having burning water pressed against their torso beneath multiple layers of fireproof protection, temperatures that in extreme situations can approach levels capable of causing serious burns.

Because of that risk, some drivers choose not to wear the system at all. Instead they rely on oxygen being pumped through a cooling tube into the helmet for airflow and a hydration line that feeds water directly into the helmet during the race. Several systems failed Sunday. Alex Bowman began fading through the field before telling his team he did not think he could continue. After completing 70 of the race’s 95 laps, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet pulled into the garage and climbed from the car. He was transported to the infield care center and treated with fluids before being released.

A.J. Allmendinger experienced a similar failure in the No. 16 machine but managed to fight through the final laps to finish ninth for Kaulig Racing before collapsing onto his back beside the car on pit road. Medical personnel attended to him immediately and he too was later released. It was a stark reminder that this race was demanding something physical from the drivers, not just mechanical from the cars.

What followed became one of the most unusual moments of the entire weekend. With Bowman unable to continue, Hendrick Motorsports suddenly needed a substitute driver. Enter Myatt Snider. The 31 year old racer is the son of longtime NASCAR reporter Marty Snider and has spent years grinding through the sport’s ladder system, compiling more than 100 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series along with dozens more in the Craftsman Truck Series. Snider captured a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series competition in 2021. Like many drivers chasing opportunities in modern NASCAR, he has taken on multiple roles to stay close to the sport while searching for his next full time ride. On Sunday he was working pit road coverage for the FOX broadcast team alongside reporter Jamie Little.

Snider had not come to COTA expecting to drive. In fact, he had never turned a lap in NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup Series car before that afternoon. Yet racers grow up hearing a simple rule repeated throughout the garage, always bring your helmet and fire suit to the racetrack, because you never know when your opportunity might come. Snider had done exactly that.

When Bowman exited the race, Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition Chad Knaus immediately contacted NASCAR officials requesting approval for Snider to relieve Bowman in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Normally that process can take hours. On Sunday there was no time for that. Inside race control an impromptu meeting was held among NASCAR officials to review Snider’s racing resume. Within roughly fifteen minutes the sanctioning body approved the request, determining his experience in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, ARCA competition, and road course racing in the NASCAR Euro Series was sufficient for a road course debut in the Cup Series.

Before Snider could take the wheel, NASCAR officials conducted a full safety inspection. His firesuit, helmet, and HANS device were verified. His seating position inside the No. 48 car was checked for proper belt angles, visibility, and headrest alignment. Once those boxes were checked, he was cleared to drive.

Snider hopping into the 48

Even then the moment still carried a touch of chaos. As Snider rushed toward the garage to climb into the car, he began texting fellow racer Brad Perez asking for advice about braking points around the circuit. One message read simply, “What is the braking point for the turn off the esses?” A few minutes earlier he had been standing on pit road with a headset and microphone. Now he was climbing into a Hendrick Motorsports Cup car.

Snider left his broadcast role, climbed into the car, and completed the race for the No. 48 team. Despite the circumstances he turned competitive lap times before eventually running out of fuel near the finish. Bowman remains the driver of record and receives the official finish and points, but the image of Snider stepping from pit road reporter to Cup Series driver in the span of minutes became one of the weekend’s defining moments.

On track, the race itself unfolded strategically across the three stages. Chase Briscoe made an aggressive three wide move into Turn 1 on the opening lap to grab the early lead before the field settled into rhythm. Ryan Blaney soon emerged as one of the fastest cars on track, running down the leaders and controlling large portions of the opening run. As teams began short pitting to gain track position, Ross Chastain capitalized to capture the Stage 1 victory. Meanwhile Shane van Gisbergen, who had started 13th, methodically carved his way through traffic, reminding everyone why he is widely considered the most dangerous road course racer in the field.

Stage 2 continued the strategic shuffle. Tyler Reddick gradually worked his way back to the front after starting from the pole, while Ty Gibbs capitalized on pit strategy to capture the Stage 2 win. Connor Zilisch spun in Turn 1 during the middle portion of the race but repeatedly fought back through the field. Chase Briscoe’s strong afternoon ended early when a broken transaxle sent the No. 19 Toyota to the garage, making him the race’s only retirement. Despite the intensity of the circuit, the race featured only one natural caution, which arrived when Ross Chastain lost a right rear wheel late in the event.

That caution set up a 16 lap green flag run to the finish that ultimately decided the race. Ryan Blaney briefly challenged Reddick earlier in the stage before fading with grip issues, while Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, and Michael McDowell all battled inside the top five. Through it all, van Gisbergen hovered just behind the leaders waiting for the closing run that would determine the winner. By the end of the afternoon, Tyler Reddick had led 58 of the race’s 95 laps, controlling the pace for much of the event. The tower watched. The crowd leaned forward. Circuit of the Americas did what it always does. It tested endurance, discipline, and precision in equal measure, and by the final laps the fight for victory had narrowed to the sport’s very best.

Our Race Winner

Sometimes history arrives quietly. Other times it storms into the record books at full throttle. On a blistering Sunday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas, Tyler Reddick did exactly that. Driving the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, Reddick delivered a commanding performance that felt inevitable from the moment the race settled into rhythm. He led 58 of the race’s 95 laps, controlled the pace of the event, and when the moment of truth arrived late in the race, he outdueled the most dangerous road course racer in the field. When the checkered flag waved, Reddick had not only won at COTA, he had done something no driver in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series had ever done before. Daytona. Atlanta. COTA. Three races. Three wins. Three completely different styles of racetracks, all conquered by the same driver to open the 2026 season.

And this one required everything he had. Charging behind him in the closing laps was Shane van Gisbergen, the driver who has become the gold standard of road course racing in NASCAR. After the final restart with 16 laps remaining, van Gisbergen surged forward and immediately set his sights on the race leader, slicing past Ryan Blaney and beginning the chase. For eight tense laps the pressure mounted as the New Zealander hunted the No. 45 Toyota through the esses and uphill braking zones of COTA. But Reddick never flinched. Corner after corner, he defended the lead with calm precision before gradually stretching the gap and driving away to a 3.944 second victory. “It means the world,” Reddick said afterward. “We get going at the end there, I’m leading, and there’s SVG, the guy I’ve been trying to beat for a while now. Just to be able to outlast him and hold on for the win is incredible.”

The moment carried even greater weight because of the company Reddick now keeps. Not Richard Petty, not Dale Earnhardt, not Jeff Gordon ever opened a NASCAR Cup season with three consecutive victories. The accomplishment also marked the first time a team had won the opening three races of a season since Petty Enterprises did it in 1963. Perhaps fittingly, it happened driving for a team owned by Michael Jordan, the man who made the word “three peat” famous across the sports world. “He had a chance to win three in a row, and that’s the hardest one to win,” Jordan said afterward. “He kept to his strategy, and the guys put together a great car.” Even co owner Denny Hamlin has taken notice of what his driver is becoming. “He’s complete,” Hamlin said. “There are fewer and fewer places where you look at the schedule and think he can’t go win.” Through three races in 2026, the evidence is overwhelming. The No. 45 team is not just winning races. They are defining the season.

Conclusion

As the dust settles in Austin, the NASCAR Cup Series now turns its attention west to the desert for the next chapter of the season at Phoenix Raceway, a one-mile oval that could not be more different from the technical twists of Circuit of the Americas. Where COTA demands rhythm and patience, Phoenix rewards aggression, braking discipline, and track position as drivers dive hard into the dogleg and battle for grip on the flat corners of the desert oval. With Tyler Reddick’s historic start to the season now setting the tone for the championship fight, the field arrives in Arizona looking to stop the momentum and reset the narrative before it grows even larger. The atmosphere will be electric as fans pack the grandstands for one of the sport’s most important venues, and this weekend the roar of the engines will echo across the Valley of the Sun. From the grandstands to the garage area, all eyes will be on Phoenix, and for those lucky enough to be there in person, the next chapter of the 2026 season is about to unfold right in front of them.

References

DeGroot, N. (2026, March 1). Tyler Reddick beats Van Gisbergen to earn historic COTA NASCAR Cup win. Motorsport.com.

Ryan, N. (2026, March 3). Hauler talk: Behind the scenes of Myatt Snider earning approval to compete at COTA. NASCAR.com.

Spencer, R. (2026, March 1). Tyler Reddick wins COTA for historic third straight victory to open 2026. NASCAR Wire Service.

Staff Report. (2026, March 1). Alex Bowman exits Cup race at COTA early; Myatt Snider enters in relief. NASCAR.com.

Weaver, M. (2026, March 1). Tyler Reddick channels Michael Jordan with first three-peat. Motorsport.com.

Christie, T. (2026, March 2). Myatt Snider thrust into Cup car after unexpected situation with Alex Bowman at COTA. TobyChristie.com.