Tyler Reddick had no right-front fender after a mid-race frontstretch wreck, but that didn’t stop him from capturing the checkered flag in a chaotic finish at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta).
It was Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace who had the lead on the final restart, and Reddick was the pusher. Carson Hocevar lined up on the outside with Ross Chastain directly behind him.
The wreck-filled race went into double overtime, and after clearing the top lane, Wallace tried to come up in front of Hocevar, who shot the middle with a push from Chastain.
Reddick surged ahead with a push from Briscoe as Chastain sliced under Hocevar to take third place in the final order. Hocevar finished fourth, Daniel Suarez fifth, and Shane van Gisbergen earned a career-best finish on ovals. Zane Smith, Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Ryan Blaney filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Stage 1
While Tyler Reddick led the field to the green flag, the top spot swapped hands numerous times throughout the 60-lap opening stage. Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Chase Elliott all took turns out front in the first half of the stage.
In the pack, Carson Hocevar dropped from tenth place with a tire issue, hitting the wall twice before diving to the pits and falling a lap down. The pack ran him down and he went two laps down, but got one of those back via the free pass at the end of the stage.
Handling was paramount as early leaders like Keselowski dropped back as they fought loose conditions. Other drivers described their cars as being on a ‘knife edge’ on the radio.
Wallace hoped to win Stage 1, only to have Cindric pass him on the final lap and take it for Team Penske. Cindric drove through the entire pack after starting in the back of the field to win the opening stage.
The order was Cindric, Wallace, Larson, Byron, Elliott, Reddick, Busch, Logano, Zilisch, and Blaney.
Stage 2
During the pit cycle, Elliott had a disasterous stop, going too deep into his box before backing up losing all of his track position in an instant.
On the restart, Kyle Larson was in control up front, but Bubba Wallace quickly moved into the top spot. Just like the first stage, the lead continues to shift hands as Larson, Wallace, and Byron all taking turns out front.
The first incident of the day involved Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry, as Gibbs tried to shoot a gap entering Turn 3 and ran out of space. Berry clipped him, and Gibbs slammed the outside wall hard as he collected Berry. Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin — JGR teammates to Gibbs — both got a small piece of it.
The leaders pitted and most opted for a fuel-only stop to ensure they could reach the end of the stage. The caution also helped Hocevar to get back onto the lead lap via the free pass.
Not long after, 23XI took control from the Hendrick cars with Reddick and Wallace out front. Just then, another multi-car wreck broke out in the middle of the pack. Daytona 500 runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. suffered big damage, as did Riley Herbst, BJ McLeod, and Todd Gilliland. It began with Herbst getting into A. Dillon, sending him spinning down the track along with himself.
While the leaders stayed out, the back-half of the field came down pit road. As Reddick and Wallace continued to command the race, Saturday’s Truck winner Kyle Busch spun sideways on the backstretch and slammed nose-first into the wall. Another small group took the opportunity to pit, but the leaders remained on track.
The rest of the stage was non-stop action at the front. Ross Chastain scrubbed the wall while running inside the top five, but the real drama involved his teammate, Shane van Gisbergen. SVG made a huge run in the final lap of the stage and Larson came down a moment too late, resulting in contact in the battle for third. SVG spun through the infield while Larson slammed the outside wall.
Larson came over the radio, noting that he had no idea SVG was even to his inside. Later, he took full responsibility for the wreck, saying “I just screwed up.”
Wallace won Stage 2 in a photo finish over Byron as the caution flew. They were followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Elliott, Hocevar, Preece, Blaney, Keselowski and Chastain.
Stage 3
It was a group of Fords out front for the restart, taking advantage of quicker stops and some two-tire calls, but it was the JGR duo of Briscoe and Hamlin that took control of the race.
While the leaders went single-file for a bit, it didn’t last as the pack remained anxious. Wallace eventually reclaimed the lead, and SVG lost it on his own, spinning back through the infield. That eliminated the need for green-flag pit stops.
While most of the field took two tires or none, a handful decided to give up the track position for four fresh ones.
Chastain was among those who took four, and he quickly marched forward, reaching as high as third behind the Penske duo of Cindric and Blaney.
Back in the pack, Logano squeezed up in front of Hamlin and the No. 11 hit the wall, triggering another multi-car crash. Daytona 500 winner Reddick, Bowman, Zilisch, McDowell, T. Dillon, Buescher were all collected.
Cindric and Blaney remained in control as their teammate Logano later spun off the nose of Hocevar.
The ensuing restart was wild, and Wallace tried to hold onto the lead as several drivers, including Hocevar on the freshest tires, attempted to take it from him.
Byron hit the wall in lead pack and cut a tire. As he tried to get to pit road, he clipped Cindric and crashes, collecting several others. Logano, A. Dillon, Gilliland, Custer, Ware, Hamlin, and Nemechek all got damage.
That pushed the race into overtime, and it was red-flagged for cleanup. On the first attempt, Hocevar tried to force it up the middle immediately, but ran out of room and wrecked Bell into the outside wall. The aforementioned double overtime restart ultimately decided the race, with Reddick going back-to-back to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup season, keeping hold of the championship lead for 23XI.
RACE
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