Tyler Reddick arrives at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 60-point lead in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, but the 30-year-old driver has yet to conquer the 1½-mile oval. Despite winning the first three races of 2026 — the Daytona 500, Atlanta, and Circuit of the Americas — Reddick’s best finish in nine starts at Las Vegas is fifth, which he posted last October.
“Speed-wise, we show up to Vegas, we’re typically in the top five trying to get to the lead,” Reddick said after his Atlanta win. “It was very nice to see that speed out of our cars when we were there last fall. … Every time we go to Vegas, we’re normally pretty solid.”
The Pennzoil 400 on Sunday marks the first of two Cup Series races this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Practice and qualifying begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m., followed by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at 2:30 p.m. The green flag for the main event is scheduled just after 1 p.m. on FS1.
Reddick drives the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan. The team is chasing its first championship in its seventh season. Reddick, the 2024 regular-season champion, has won seven times with 23XI since joining in 2023, three on intermediate tracks like Las Vegas.
“Good enough isn’t good enough,” Reddick said. “We just keep working on things and just try to figure out what the next thing is going to be with the car, with my approach, so that we can just continue improving, because I know our competition is doing the same.”
Reddick’s hot start follows a winless 2025 season marked by off-track challenges. 23XI Racing was embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR over charter agreements, which was settled after a trial that reinstated the team’s charter and granted permanent charters. Reddick also dealt with a personal matter when his infant son, Rookie, was diagnosed with a chest tumor; after surgery, his son is doing well, Reddick shared after his Daytona win.
“The details matter,” Reddick said. “The details matter on the racecar. The details matter in the preparation, in communication. There’s just so many things it takes. … I think everyone quickly got to work on what do we need to fix? What do we need to improve?”
Under NASCAR’s new points system, race winners earn 55 points instead of 40, and there is no win-and-in playoff berth. Reddick’s three wins have built a large standings lead. “Everyone thought coming into this consistency and all those things are super important,” he said. “Just in two races, you’re able to see what kind of separation can occur when a team or driver kind of gets it rolling. … We’re going to do everything we can to try and grow that lead some more.”
