What’s Happening?
History has been made in the NASCAR Cup Series. Tyler Reddick became the first driver in the sport’s history to win the first three races of the season. That’s right, not even Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, or Jeff Gordon have accomplished this feat, but Reddick and 23XI have. At the track, he won his first race for the Michael Jordan-owned team.
In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Shane van Gisbergen went from sixth to first (I’m not joking) in one corner to take home his first win at Circuit of the Americas. As for Trucks, Layne Riggs came in first in the first ever Truck Series race at St. Petersburg.
Now, how was the racing as a whole? Where do the races stack up against each other? Let’s take a look at my Race Weekend Rankings and see where the COTA/St. Pete Weekend ranks among the rest of the 2026 season!
Check out the latest episode of The Cutline, where Armany broke down the weekend at COTA and St. Pete.
Focused Health 250: B-Tier
The O’Reilly race at COTA wasn’t bad. There was action throughout the pack, and SVG’s move on the restart to take the lead from outside the top five was spectacular. A solid showing for the O’Reilly series once again
DuraMax Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne: B-Tier
Honestly, both the Cup and O’Reilly races can be swapped and I wouldn’t bat an eye. Despite the long green-flag runs, there was a lot of action, such as Reddick vs Blaney, Reddick vs SVG, or Zillisch coming from the back to the front a couple of times. Not the barnburner it was last year, but still a good race.
OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg: A-Tier
This race was so much fun. This race had the ingredients to be a crapshoot, but was anything but that. Seeing the Trucks battle all day long across the streets of St. Pete was so much fun to watch. Oh, and it was easily the best race of St. Pete Weekend (sorry IndyCar).
You can follow along with Armany by creating your own Race Weekend Rankings Tier List. Make sure to tag Armany and The Daily Downforce on X, and we’ll share your list with the rest of the NASCAR Community.