Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick have been the only drivers to contend for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship in 2026. While Reddick had the upper hand early on, Hamlin covered it up with a series of impressive performances, surpassing him.

On Monday's episode of his "Actions Detrimental" podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver spoke about Reddick's string of bad luck that continued in Chicagoland on Sunday. He said:

"When we talk about luck in racing, sometimes it gets used over - well, it doesn't sometimes - a lot of times it gets overused to a blanket statement of you having a bad day. And sometimes when you get caught up in a first lap wreck, not of your doing, sometimes that's luck. But sometimes when it happens back in 30th, that's where things typically happen."

Reddick faced bad luck in the last four out of five races, costing him his championship lead to Hamlin. Leaving behind the initial few months, June and July have been an absolute disaster for him, as he had only one noteworthy result: a second place in Pocono.

Describing the 23XI Racing driver's Chicagoland misfortune, Hamlin added:

"Obviously, something punctured the radiator. All kinds of fluid was going out, and they went laps down. So, definitely on a string of bad luck there. I don't know how good his car was. It didn't appear that it was great when I was around it."

At Michigan, Reddick was caught up in a multi-car chain reaction wreck triggered by Carson Hocevar. Result? Reddick's first DNF of the season. Two weeks later at Coronado, he finished 25th after he suffered a flat tire following his tussle with 23XI teammate Corey Heim.

At Sonoma, Reddick suffered a severe power steering failure on Stage 2, and he went on to have a 36th-place finish. And most recently at Chicagoland, Reddick punctured his radiator and oil cooler, leading him to a 36th-place finish.

Denny Hamlin wants to capitalize on winning momentum over Tyler Reddick

Denny Hamlin snatched the championship lead from Tyler Reddick at Sonoma and extended it at Chicagoland. Now, he wants to win more races and keep the momentum going.

Speaking about it on the aforementioned podcast, Hamlin said:

"I'd like to win one more race before we get into the playoffs. I thought Chicagoland was going to be the best chance of that."

When asked if he wanted to win to extend the lead, or just to win, he replied,

"No, I just want to win. That's seven races without winning. Add the two that we now have… three in a row that we haven't won. So that's 10 races. That's a dry spell. I feel good about where we're at, obviously. But you know, you just want to win, and that's always been my main goal, is just to win as many races as I possibly can."

Denny Hamlin has four wins to his name this season (five, if we count the All-Star win), one less than Tyler Reddick. However, he now has a 44-point lead over the 23XI Racing driver, and if he keeps this consistent run going, one can expect him to seal the regular season championship with ease.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yash Kotak