When the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday for the 2026 Jack Link’s 500, it does so at a moment when one team has an iron grip on the season that the sport has rarely seen. Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing outfit is running away from the rest of the field, and for Bubba Wallace, the driver who put the organization on the map with a moment no one in the sport will ever forget, Talladega carries a meaning that goes well beyond lap times and starting positions.
23XI Racing’s dominant 2026 season
Through 9 races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, 23XI Racing’s star driver Tyler Reddick has been in a category of his own. He has won 5 of those 9 events, including 3 consecutive victories to open the year — among them the Daytona 500 — and last week added a fifth win at Kansas Speedway. The run makes him the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to win 5 of the first 9 races of a NASCAR Cup Series season, an achievement that underscores just how completely 23XI has separated itself from the competition in 2026. Reddick leads the points standings and will start from the pole on Sunday, his 5th pole of the season. In the 4 previous races where he started from the front, he won them all.
Wallace has not been overshadowed in the process. The driver of the No. 23 Toyota has compiled 7 top-11 finishes this season and sits 7th in the overall standings, contributing meaningfully to the team’s collective momentum as the series heads into one of the most unpredictable and dramatic venues on the entire circuit.
The race and what to expect
Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 is the 10th race of the 36-race season and unfolds over 188 laps on Talladega’s 2.66-mile superspeedway, covering just over 500 miles in total. The race gets underway at 3 p.m. ET and airs on FOX and HBO Max. Reddick starts from pole alongside Kyle Larson in 2nd, with Denny Hamlin 3rd, Wallace 4th and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top 5. Among the key storylines heading in is Brad Keselowski, a 6-time Talladega winner who starts 6th and is regarded as one of the stronger threats for the victory. With 11 different drivers having won the last 11 Talladega races, the event remains as wide open and strategy-dependent as any on the schedule.
The win that started it all
The most important race in 23XI Racing’s brief history was run on this same stretch of Alabama asphalt in October 2021. Wallace, in just the team’s first season of existence, navigated a weather-delayed and overtime finish at the YellaWood 500 to claim the victory — not only 23XI Racing’s first-ever NASCAR Cup Series win but a moment that resonated far beyond the sport itself.
Wallace became the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race since the legendary Wendell Scott won at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida in 1963 — a gap of 58 years. The victory came in the 5th race of the playoffs, making it consequential both historically and competitively. The top 5 finishers behind Wallace that day were, in order: 1. Brad Keselowski, 2. Joey Logano, 3. Kyle Busch and 4. Christopher Bell.
Jordan was not present at the track when the checkered flag fell, but the response he issued captured the weight of the occasion entirely. His written statement following the win spoke to the pride he felt in both Wallace and the entire organization, describing the result as a massive milestone and confirming that he had believed in Wallace’s ability from the moment the driver joined the team.
Wallace was equally candid in his post-race remarks, crediting Jordan and Hamlin for their belief in him and acknowledging that the setting — Talladega specifically — felt fitting for the occasion.
Wallace’s most recent run at the track, the 2025 YellaWood 500, produced a 4th-place finish, adding to a growing body of strong Talladega results that have made the superspeedway one of the tracks where his name is always worth watching.
Source: The Mirror, NASCAR.com, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports