Reddick wins at Atlanta to give Jordan second straight Cup victory

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Whether on or off the racetrack, all Michael Jordan does is win in NASCAR. For the second consecutive Sunday to open the season, the basketball great and co-owner of 23XI Racing celebrated in victory lane with driver Tyler Reddick. This time, after a thriller at Echo Park Speedway. Jordan's team now has the top two drivers in the Cup Series points standings with Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The six-time NBA champion already added a ring last week with Reddick in the Daytona 500, the crown jewel of stock-car racing. Oh, and Jordan also settled a federal antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December, a major legal victory that secured a permanent franchise-style model and ensured his team would remain in business for the long-term. "The guys worked hard all summer, and I know we had our little ordeal," Jordan said after Reddick's victory Sunday, referring to the bruising court battle that ended with him making peace with NASCAR CEO and chairman Jim France. "They kept working hard and this is the fruit of their labor. They put forth the effort, and for us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our whole team." It especially says a lot about Reddick, who put on another dazzling performance the week after he became the fourth driver in history to win the Daytona 500 by leading only the final lap. This time, he led a race-high 53 laps on the 1.54-mile oval south of Atlanta – including the final two in a double-overtime restart. He snatched the lead from Wallace despite the right-front fender of his No. 45 Toyota being damaged in a nine-car crash on the 224th of a scheduled 260 laps. Reddick fell two laps down for repairs but came roaring back from 27th for his 10th career victory. "I mean, that's crazy, ain't it?" said Reddick, who became the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two NASCAR Cup Series races of the season. "I just found a way to get back in the top five, and I tried to stay committed to somebody." He got a helpful push from runner-up Chase Briscoe. Ross Chastain finished third, followed by the Spire Motorsports tandem of Carson Hocevar (who triggered a large crash in the first overtime) and Daniel Suarez. "Tyler had like another gear," Chastain said. "(He had) no fender, and he pulled us so fast." In a race that featured a track-record 57 lead changes, Wallace was first entering the final restart but shuffled to eighth. He still gained the second-most points (48) by winning the second stage and leading 46 laps. "Tyler did an unbelievable job," Jordan said. "I feel bad for Bubba because he had an unbelievable day. But Tyler drove his ass off. I'm very happy for Tyler. I'm very happy for 23XI." Green turns to yellow Austin Cindric took advantage of a stretch of 61 green-flag laps to open the race, winning the first stage after starting 30th. It was the second consecutive year that the first stage in the February race was completed without a yellow flag – an oddity for a track known for chaos since its 2022 reconfiguration into a high-banked drafting oval. The cautions quickly picked up pace in the second stage with three yellow flags in 40 laps that collected 16 cars and eliminated notable drivers Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch. The 160-lap middle segment ended under another yellow when defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson slammed the outside wall after a collision with Shane van Gisbergen. No Las Vegas love lost Busch was perturbed after his No. 8 Chevrolet "got rammed" exiting Turn 2 by the No. 4 Ford of Noah Gragson on the 125th lap. Though both drivers hail from Las Vegas, Nevada, the 40-year-old Busch felt little kinship in taking issue with the aggressive style of Gragson, who is 13 years younger. "He didn't give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before hitting me or get into me gently to try and get the momentum back," said Busch, who finished 33rd. "He just drove right through me." Up next The NASCAR Cup Series will race at the Circuit of the Americas, the first road course of the 2026 season, on Sunday, March 1. Christopher Bell outdueled Kyle Busch and William Byron to win at the Austin, Texas, track last year. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing