UPDATE — Monday, April 20, 2026, 1:45 p.m. EST:
Michael Jordan didn’t just pull up to NASCAR to see what it was hitting for — he came to win. And now that the 2026 season is rolling, his 23XI Racing team is doing way more than just making early noise. Tyler Reddick’s latest victory at Kansas on April 19 gave 23XI its fifth win in the first nine Cup Series races of the season, which officially pushes this team out of the “nice story” category and into something much more serious. Reddick also became the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to win five of the first nine races of a Cup season, which is the kind of company that immediately changes how people talk about you.
This is crucial because when this story first started popping off, the headline was about 23XI making history with three straight wins to open the year. Since then, that heater has only gotten hotter. Reddick added a win at Darlington on March 22 before grabbing another one at Kansas, meaning his 2026 résumé already includes victories at the Daytona 500, Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, Darlington, and Kansas. After Kansas, he also sat atop the Cup standings, which means Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team isn’t just part of the conversation anymore — it’s helping define the season.