Tyler Reddick got his first of five victories at the 2026 Daytona 500, thus giving him the points lead, and he hasn’t looked back since. But one driver seems to have had what it takes to catch Tyler, his boss, Denny Hamlin. Denny has four wins on the season to Tyler’s five; however, his consistency in the middle part of the season has been unmatched.
Denny told us something dangerous in the media center at Michigan a few weeks back: that he has never felt more confident behind the wheel of a race car. Tyler, on the other hand, had not finished worse than 15th before Michigan, but a mid-race wreck led him to a streak of three finishes of 25th or worse in the last four races. A last-place finish at Sonoma cost Tyler the lead despite a mid-20s finish for Hamlin.
Here is a look at how Tyler built and lost his points lead to Denny Hamlin.
Image Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images
| Race | Finish | Points Lead |
|---|---|---|
| Daytona | 1 | +12 |
| EchoPark Speedway | 1 | +40 |
| Circuit of the Americas | 1 | +70 |
| Phoenix Raceway | 8 | +60 |
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 13 | +61 |
| Darlington Raceway | 1 | +95 |
| Martinsville Speedway | 15 | +82 |
| Bristol Motor Speedway | 4 | +62 |
| Kansas Speedway | 1 | +105 |
| Talladega Superspeedway | 14 | +110 |
| Texas Motor Speedway | 4 | +109 |
| Watkins Glen International | 5 | +129 |
| Charlotte Motor Speedway | 4 | +122 |
| Nashville | 6 | +97 |
| Michigan | 35 | +51 |
| Pocono | 2 | +19 |
| San Diego | 25 | +8 |
| Sonoma | 36 | -1 |
