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Tyler Reddick’s NASCAR roll has us saying the quiet part out loud

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NASCAR race at Darlington: Cup Series drivers tackle Goodyear 400

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on March 22, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Oh, sure, there’s been a raised eyebrow here and there in recent years. But a full-blown conspiracy — or at least a theory therein? Not lately.

In earlier times, when NASCAR was courting Detroit’s Big Three automakers in hopes of them bringing resources (i.e. “cubic dollars”) into the sport, Ford was convinced Chevy was getting the wink-and-a-nod treatment, while Chevy was convinced that treatment was actually reserved for General Motors.

Michael Jordan and Tyler Reddick are becoming fixtures on Fox’s late-afternoon Sunday programming.

And GM, in turn, reversed the order of accusations.

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They were all wrong. Or were they all right? Back then, it depended on whether you were asking Glen Wood, Junior Johnson or Smokey Yunick.

Fast-forward to NASCAR’s color-TV days, and the conspiracies were more micro than macro. Remember when everyone was convinced Hendrick Motorsports was secretly employing traction control on Jeff Gordon’s worldbeater No. 24?

How about Junior’s plate? Dale Earnhardt Jr. was proving so good at Daytona and Talladega, many assumed NASCAR held back a special restrictor plate for the old No. 8’s carburetor.

We’ve had little issues about ill-timed caution flags or questionable speeding penalties on Pit Road, but a conspiracy regarding NASCAR playing favorites with a specific team? It’s been a while.

But, boy howdy, silly or not, one’s a-brewin’. And the more it gets people talking, the better it is for NASCAR and those covering and broadcasting it.

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First Gear

Remember a few weeks back when we learned no driver in NASCAR history had started a Cup season with three straight wins? Not even Richard Petty, back when he was collecting trophies like they were bubblegum cards.

Then Tyler Reddick did it.

And we’re told only two drivers had ever won four of the first six races: Dale Earnhardt (1987) and Bill Elliott (1992). Tyler Reddick has now done that, too.

No, this isn’t as shocking as a Riley Herbst, Cody Ware or even Herman “The Turtle” Beam (ask your granddaddy) getting out of the gate like this, but still, Reddick entered 2026 with eight wins in 218 career starts, and just last season, he won as many races as you did.

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Even in a non-traditional sport like auto racing, momentum and hot streaks are real, but this particular heater had some real opportunities to cool off at Darlington, and it didn’t.

Second Gear

Here’s what was particularly shocking about Reddick at Darlington …

  • He was the 29th of 37 drivers to turn a qualifying lap Saturday. No one before him could reach an average of 168 mph, with the fastest being in the 167 range. Reddick topped 169. While scraping the infamous Darlington wall along the way.

That raw speed (cue the theorists!) basically leads to these next two items …

  • Reddick won Sunday’s race after detouring to Auto Zone for a new battery. Well, NASCAR’s version of that, anyway. He was having power issues, and it was early enough in the race so, to hell with it, just replace the battery, restart at the rear, and mow ’em down one by one.

  • A clunky tire change lost him six positions on another stop.

  • To help reduce the risk of future power problems, he turned off the juice to his cool suit, which made things physically tougher at a demanding track on a warm day.

  • For good measure, he collided with Chris Buescher in the late stages.

And still, he blew past Brad Keselowski with 28 laps remaining (poor Kez looked like he had the emergency brake engaged!) and was nearly six seconds ahead at the checkers.

Third Gear

Be patient, we’ll get there. For those who aren’t tuned in to where we’re going with this, we need to build the case, then we can all grab our officially licensed tinfoil caps.

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For now, let’s hear what others are saying about Reddick’s Darlington beatdown.

  • Keselowski, the runner-up: “Tyler is a great driver. You shouldn’t take anything away from that. But they’re clearly up on horsepower and downforce right now, and he’s making that count.”

  • Ryan Blaney, who finished third: “He just goes faster. I wish I could point something out, but he’s just faster, and Tyler is an amazing race-car driver. Always has been, and they’ve got it going on over there right now.”

  • Denny Hamlin, co-owner of Reddick’s team and Sunday’s 11th-place finisher: “He was faster on the entry, the middle and the exit. I’ll study it and try to learn something from it because clearly they got it figured out.”

The only guy who could’ve kept pace with Reddick was his teammate at 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace, but he had a slow pit stop that put him back in the pack, where he found a crash and ruined his day.

Fourth Gear

Now, to state the obvious in explaining the smirks among NASCAR insiders.

The ink is barely dry on that offseason legal settlement between NASCAR and the two race-team plaintiffs, one of which is Reddick’s 23XI team, which lists Michael Jordan (heard of him?) as a co-owner — a co-owner who has been extremely visible through six weeks of the season.

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A lot of us are guilty as charged. Though we claim to know better and can explain why such a conspiracy would be way too risky for a governing body, we secretly enjoy the fleeting thoughts.

“What thoughts?” you may ask. How about this one …

The true believers will have you thinking the courtroom settlement language included this: In lieu of additional monetary considerations, plaintiffs will accept an additional 50 horsepower until further notice.

Never mind that the other co-plaintiff, Front Row Motorsports, has three cars with a paltry two top-10s in a combined 18 starts this year. Yes, two.

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Just run with the conspiracy. It’s good for business.

— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR conspiracy? Tyler Reddick, Michael Jordan fuel it at Darlington

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