This week’s Racing Roundtable breaks down Tyler Reddick’s win at Darlington, highlights Brad Keselowski’s comeback amid his 600th career start, Denny Hamlin’s future, and looks ahead to Martinsville Speedway
This week on The Racing Roundtable, hosts NASCAR Roundtable publisher Tyler Jones, The Racing Experts founder Dominic Aragon, and ARCA Menards Series driver Matt Kemp are joined by NASCAR Roundtable publisher Jonathan Fjeld with a look back at Tyler Reddick’s win at Darlington, and a preview of this weekend’s action from Martinsville.
Jones opens the show saying that he believes that NASCAR has entered the Tyler Reddick Era. He was very impressed with how Reddick won four of the first six races of the year, believing that he has entered a new reign of terror, which we haven’t really seen since the NextGen car debuted in the Cup Series.
He went on to compare his dominance to the likes of Kyle Larson’s 2021 season, Jimmie Johnson’s championship runs, and even went as far as to say that it feels similar to Max Verstappen in F1. Jones added that he feels that Reddick is inevitable at this point.
Fjeld and Kemp pushed back on that notion. Kemp said it isn’t that surprising considering Christopher Bell won three of the first four races to open up the year in 2024, including three victories in a run. He even added that he believes Reddick’s run to come to an end soon, and it is certainly possible that he might not end up in victory lane again the rest of the season.
Adding to Kemp’s point, Fjeld said his dominance is historic, but he believes there was a decent amount of luck involved. Fjeld directed the conversation to his close-wins at Daytona and Atlanta, saying that in those victories he was in the right place at the right time.
Meanwhile, Aragon shifted the focus to Brad Keselowski. The RFK Racing co-owner and driver has not reached victory lane in two seasons, but Aragon believes that his comeback season is just getting started.
Keselowski finished Sunday’s race at Darlington in second, and he led the most laps with 142. Currently, he sits ninth in the points standings, and he’s doing so injured. Keselowski suffered a broken right femur after slipping on ice during a family ski trip in mid-December 2025, and has been walking with a cane ever since.
Sunday’s race at Darlington will mark Keselowski’s 600th career start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Also on this week’s show, the guys discuss Denny Hamlin’s future. Hamlin has indicated that he plans to retire from full-time racing in the Cup Series after the 2027 season. The panel debated if Hamlin were to win the championship this year, would he go out on top and call it quits early?
The episode ends with a look ahead to Martinsville this Sunday, a place that has been dominated by Hendrick Motorsports over the years. However, Hendrick and Team Chevy have yet to pull into victory lane this season after introducing a new car body. Could Kyle Larson or Chase Elliott break through at Martinsville, and give Hendrick and Chevy their first win of the year?
Find out more on the latest headlines in NASCAR on The Racing Roundtable. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts and YouTube for weekly episodes. Enjoyed the show? Tell a friend and leave a five-star review!