Van Gisbergen was vying to match Jeff Gordon’s record of six road course wins in a row, which the NASCAR legend achieved between 1997 and 2000.

Tyler Reddick continued his stranglehold on the stock car series, winning the third race in a row for Toyota team 23XI Racing. It’s the first time in the history of the Cup Series that any driver has won three consecutive.

Reddick led from pole position and survived a late race attack from van Gisbergen to clinch victory by just under four seconds.

“Disappointed with second, but yeah, this series is just at a high level,” said van Gisbergen.

“We got our SafetyCulture Chevy a lot better than yesterday, but just following Tyler, his driving was immaculate and his car was very good too, so I tried but didn’t quite have enough.”

Green. GREEN. GREEN! We are underway at Circuit of the Americas on FOX. Tyler Reddick leads.

📱» https://t.co/kIpAkwq3Do pic.twitter.com/idwpnscNTZ

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 1, 2026

On Lap 1, Reddick led the field through the uphill hairpin. However, he was dispatched by Chase Briscoe in the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry out of Turn 2.

Van Gisbergen made a quick start in the #97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro from 13th to 10th at the end of Lap 1 while Briscoe led Reddick, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott.

SVG bemoaned a lack of grip early – “I got no rear at all. Too much front on entry as well,” he radioed to his crew on Lap 2.

Reddick struggled with tyre life early on too, and by Lap 8 had fallen towards the tail of the top 10.

Asked how his car was feeling inside the first eight laps, van Gisbergen replied: “Feels pretty shit, but everyone looks shit. We’ve kind of got what we’ve got. Starting to build tight, but it’s better than yesterday.”

Blaney took the lead on Lap 9 while van Gisbergen continued his march into the top five with a pass on Michael McDowell in the #71 Spire Motorsports Camaro at Turn 1.

As Stage 1 drew to a close, Trackhouse Racing debated whether to pit for tyres or take stage points. Ultimately, they elected to stay out.

Blaney in the #12 Team Penske Mustang pitted from the lead with three laps left in Stage 1, which handed first place and the stage win to Chastain. Van Gisbergen to second and McDowell third.

Van Gisbergen was the first car off the pit road. Chastain, meanwhile, stalled and lost five places.

Blaney resumed the race lead alongside Reddick. Kyle Larson was third, William Byron fourth, and Chase Briscoe fifth. Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, restarted in 16th.

Stage 2 escalated quickly 👀

FOX | https://t.co/kIpAkwq3Do pic.twitter.com/HpiYf5Jhww

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 1, 2026

Reddick got the jump on Blaney to lead into Turn 1. Connor Zilisch in the #88 Trackhouse Camaro was a victim of the Turn 1 melee thanks to a hit from Daniel Suarez in the #7 Spire Motorsports Camaro.

Van Gisbergen shortcut the hairpin to avoid the carnage, and by the end of the restart lap was inside the top 10.

Stage 2 was a relatively uneventful affair. Van Gisbergen bemoaned tyre life, but continued to march forward and by Lap 37 was up to fifth.

Although van Gisbergen flagged taking stage points, the team elected to pit on Lap 43 from second and set himself up for the start of Stage 3.

Ty Gibbs in the #45 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry won the stage ahead of AJ Allmendinger (#16 Kaulig Racing Cmaari) and Suarez. Van Gisbergen finished Stage 2 in 10th.

Stage 3 resumed on Lap 51 with Reddick at the point alongside Blaney. Byron lined up on the inside of row two with van Gisbergen on his outside.

Briscoe got the best start from sixth to third, dropping van Gisbergen to fifth. However, his race was undone by a transmission issue just shy of the final pit stops.

Despite reporting a lack of rear grip, van Gisbergen worked his way up to third. A few seconds up the road, Reddick battled to keep Blaney behind him.

The biggest mover during Stage 3 was Zilisch, who with 30 laps to go was inside the top five.

Reddick and Blaney pitted simultaneously on Lap 69. Van Gisbergen flipped a four-second deficit to the lead, and pitted at the end of Lap 70.

An off-strategy Christopher Bell in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry split van Gisbergen from Reddick and Blaney. Best of all was McDowell, who ran long and assumed the lead of the race.

The first incident-induced caution flew with 21 laps remaining when Ross Chastain’s right rear wheel parted company at the second-to-last turn.

That triggered another round of pit stops. McDowell led a whole heap of cars to the lane, including fourth-placed Bell, and sixth-placed Larson.

Reddick led Blaney, van Gisbergen, and Zilisch. Chase Elliott was the best of those who pitted in 12th.

DAYTONA 🏆 ATLANTA 🏆 COTA 🏆

Tyler Reddick makes NASCAR history for Michael Jordan and 23XI Racing, sweeping the first three races of the season for the first time ever! pic.twitter.com/JPQNe2gV9s

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 1, 2026

On the Lap 79 restart, van Gisbergen rounded up Blaney out of Turn 2 and for the second restart in a row, Zilisch found himself facing the wrong way after being tipped into a spin.

Van Gisbergen looked like he might have enough to beat Reddick, but his challenge was ultimately short-lived.

“I just have no speed, sorry,” van Gisbergen radioed.

“I’ve just got no grip in comparison.”

With just over 10 laps to go, the gap between Reddick and van Gisbergen began to narrow and just a few car lengths split the top two. A spirited effort to usurp ultimately came to nothing.

“Sorry guys, the rears are killed,” van Gisbergen said.

In the end, van Gisbergen finished 3.944s in arrears of Reddick.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Circuit of Americas

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