Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Tyler Reddick Interview After Winning at COTA | VICTORY LAP

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Fresh off his victory at Circuit of the Americas, Tyler Reddick joins Kevin Harvick on this week’s Victory Lap to break down his historic third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win to open the 2026 season. Reddick discusses how he and 23XI Racing have built early-season momentum, what has clicked across the organization, and how the team has elevated its performance to championship level. He details his intense battle with road course standout Shane van Gisbergen at COTA, the strategy and execution that helped him secure the win, and what it means to become the first Cup driver to win the first three races of a season. Reddick also reflects on his viral 3-peat photo tribute to team owner Michael Jordan, the confidence inside the garage, and how this dominant start shapes expectations for the rest of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like, oh boy, great. I just had this feeling, you know, that I was going to have to go toe to toe with him to win this race. You know, he finds a way in the second. And now we got 17 or so laps to go. And I've got to keep him behind me. Well, Tyler, welcome back to the show again. And now three wins in a row. I mean, at this point, it has to just feel like you guys just can't be stopped.

And on a weekend like that, going to a road course, no chance in ball. you just straight up whooped them. It kind of looked that way, huh? It was a tough fight all day, honestly. You know, I didn't, I had to make some adjustments in the beginning of the race, you know, certainly I just wasn't getting going very good in the start of the race the way that I should have.

And thankfully, you know, we kind of got going back in the right direction when it was time to flip for the end of stage one. And yeah, we lined up, you know, on the front road next to Blaney there. And just the way that start kind of went, you know, Byron was able to give me a really big shove. And yeah, from that point on, I knew, I mean, I saw how fast the 12 car was in stage one. So I was like, man, I've just got to find a way to keep them stuck behind me here for as long as I can. And yeah, we're able to do that in stage two and stage three. And yeah, when we got to that final caution there in stage three, I saw Shane and Connor, they were back there.

You know, they're like, they're right there. Like, hey, man, we see you up there. And, yeah, when we got through that first corner, and of course, Shane clears Ryan. I'm like, oh, boy, great, the one guy. You know what I mean? I just had this feeling, you know, that I was going to have to go toe to toe with him to win this race.

Even though he was starting, you know, mid-pack, he got up there right away in stage one. But, yeah, I just thought it was so fitting that, you know, he finds a way in the second, and now we got 17 or so laps to go, and I've got to keep him behind me. So yeah, it's just, it was, it was tough, man. It really was.

You know, I had to hit my marks. I had to be disciplined. And, yeah, just every time he kind of closed in, I was able to position myself in a good spot and kind of take away, you know, limit his options and we were able to keep him back there. It seemed like to me your car was, it was good in all the spots where it took away

the opportunity to pass, most notably turned 20 and just how good it was off of 20 stuck out like a sore thumb to me. So is that something intentional that you've worked on at Cota? It wasn't something that I necessarily knew was going to play out that way going into the weekend. You know, for us, I've typically always been the aggressor into the corner entries. And I felt like Ryan and Shane were were that way on Sunday. And I don't know. I just, to me, I felt like I just had a little bit more success back in that corner up a little bit.

you know it's not really a secret right with with septum everything you're able to go back and see all that but i just felt like i'd back the corner up a little bit to prioritize the exit and yeah it just it it was great for lap time but it ended up being really great defensively too you know they could kind of roll in my back bumper in 20 but i would get enough separation by the time we we'd you know be going through the gears on the front stretch to where it made it really hard for them to be in position to try and make a pass into one. When you look at this, I mean, obviously doing something that nobody has done in NASCAR history, winning the first three races of the season, obviously that's spectacular.

But from a driver's perspective and a team perspective, to beat SVG heads up at a road course, I mean, I know all you guys have been working to try to get to this point. That has to just add to what you guys were able to accomplish this weekend with winning the first three. Yeah, I knew coming into this, you know, it was, I know his practice he wasn't happy with, his qualifying effort he wasn't happy with, but I've seen what he's done on these road courses. He's, he's extremely good at what he does. And I just, I just knew it was going to come down to beating him at the other race. I just, I just had that feeling, you know, any, any bit of myself trying to tell any bit of my head trying to tell me, oh, you know, maybe something will happen.

You won't have to race him. Like, there was no. reason to think that way. It was best to just understand he's going to be in the mix at some point. He's going to be up there at some point. So yeah, to be able to, I guess, in a way, go toe to toe with him and be able to pull away at the end was very rewarding because it's been very hard for anyone to beat him on these road courses. So to be able to do it the way that we did for what was on the line, I just think it was all very fitting for just the way this year's kind of gotten started. What's made Cota so good for you? I mean, you've qualified on the pole there. You've won a race before there. You've been in contention pretty much every time

that we've been there. Why is CODA so good for you? You know, at one time, I thought it was just the way the track was laid out. And as it's changed, as we shorten the course up, we've, you know, lost some of those really big breaking zones. And I think more towards the start, you know, when the good year tires were harder. It was more about just going really hard every lap. And as we've taken down force off the car as the tires gotten softer as we've added force power you know what it takes i think is changed so i would love to say that it's just because i get around code of good but i think you know at this racetrack what it what i did in the car to win in 2023 and then in 26 we're very different so i wish i could say what it is but um i think it's just we've we've done a really

good job of bringing what what needs to be had in a race car two times now when we've been able to get the job done. All right. So something a little more fun. Last two questions here. We've had a debate on the set today because your last two burnouts have been pretty spectacular. We critique every one of them. I think it's going to be really hard to beat the reverse burnout. This week's was really long. When you're winning a lot like this multiple weeks in a row, do you think about the burnout and what you can do from the week before, how to make it better, or do you just roll with it and see where it goes before the tires blow out?

No, I don't think about it that much. You know, we'll see how it continues to go. Maybe I'll think about it more in the future. But, you know, again, just with things changing, you know, with this format, DNFs are going to be a killer. And so I was reminded, you know, after Echo Park to, hey, you know, these engines we got to reuse, some of these parts and pieces we got to reuse. Let's be a little kind to them.

So it was a big burnout, but I did my best to kind of take care of the engine. I didn't want to turn a lot of RPMs or anything. So I definitely want to enjoy and celebrate these moments, but I do think it's important to kind of just be mindful and take it easy on some of those parts and pieces. The engine parts, the engine department always takes all the fun out of things. But all right, last question. Whose idea was it? whose idea was it to recreate this three-peat photo because that was cool as hell? Yeah.

Sydney Fryson came up with the idea. We were up there on the stage. She's been over here on the PR side, public relations side of 2311 for a number of years, spent time at Rauch as well. So she's been here longer than me, I believe. And yeah, she just does great work. She's typically, you know, last year we can. kind of mixed it up to where we're kind of rotating with the staff that we have this year.

She's she's primarily with Bubba. But yeah, as far as I know, the idea came from her. It was amazing idea. And it was really fun to be able to recreate that photo. Everyone jumped on board with it. We had some fun doing it. That's awesome. All the credit goes to Sydney.

She probably does not want to be mentioned in this interview. I'll take you in the day. So she'll know about it later. That's good. I've never said her name, her last name out loud. I don't know if it's free surprises. or reason. That's okay.

Well, I'm sure. He might give me crap about that. Typical PR person, you'll mispronounce something or misspell something or whatever the case is. I live with one at home as my wife. So I get critiqued honestly about everything. I say, well, look, Tyler, you know, I, what you guys are doing is, is phenomenal. You know, you guys and the run that you're on.

I'm super happy for you and Denny and Michael and your whole team. Congratulations on everything. We appreciate your time. always and good luck with now you're you're done with three so now the only conversation is going out and trying to get four so good luck on that on that journey and i know it's going to be it's going to be tough but i'm looking forward to it i uh i'm have to get in my bag a little bit here here at phoenix