Tyler Reddick won the 2026 Daytona 500 in a shocking way. He drove for Michael Jordan’s co-owned 23XI Racing team and only led the last lap to win. Reddick sped past Chase Elliott after they collided, which spun Elliott out. This let Reddick’s Toyota cross the finish line first at Daytona International Speedway.
There were several cautions near the end of the 68th running of NASCAR’s crown jewel event. One of them was a crash between Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell with nine laps to go. Bubba Wallace led the race for 23XI for 40 laps, but he couldn’t stay in front. Reddick’s teammate Riley Herbst gave him a big push at the end. Jordan and co-owner Hamlin had a historic day when three of their cars finished in the top ten for 23XI Racing.
Reddick ended a 38-race winless streak at the age of 30. This was his ninth Cup Series win since his last one at Homestead-Miami in October 2024. There were celebrations, and Michael Jordan joined the team in victory lane. This showed how much the NBA legend was becoming a part of NASCAR. Elliott was fighting for the lead when the crash happened after Carson Hocevar spun out earlier in the last lap. He had already lost his first Daytona 500 win.
