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Jul 20, 2024 8:00 pm

Tyler Reddick snags pole position for return to Indianapolis oval

tyler reddick

SPEEDWAY, Ind.–Indianapolis Grand Prix Course or traditional oval — when it comes to speed, it’s all the same to Tyler Reddick.

Fastest in both rounds of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday, Reddick will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Sunday’s race marks both the 30th anniversary of the inaugural Brickyard 400 and the first time the Cup Series will race on the 2.5-mile “big track” since 2020.

In the intervening three years, NASCAR raced on the Grand Prix Course, and in 2022 — the first season for the Gen 7 Cup race car — Reddick won from the pole on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course.

The last driver to make a qualifying run in the final round of Saturday’s time trials, Reddick will start from the top spot in his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota after knocking Chase Elliott off the provisional pole by 0.044 seconds.

Despite negotiating Turn 1 in less-than-perfect fashion, Reddick covered the 2.5-mile distance in 49.460 seconds (181.932 mph) to edge the Hendrick Motorsports driver (181.803 mph) for the top starting spot.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Reddick’s second of the season and the eighth of his career.

“In Round 2, I knew what the target lap time was,” said Reddick, who ran 182.637 mph (49.278 seconds) in the opening round. “I did not feel great about my Turn 1, but the rest of the lap was really, really stout.

“It’s just really cool. I’ve been really fortunate to come here and have a lot of speed on the road course. It’s great to be back on the oval here and have that speed again. I’m excited for (Sunday). We’re going to have an awesome opportunity with pit selection, and obviously, our Toyota Camry is really fast.”

Because the field is ordered — the front row excepted — with Group A drivers on the outside row and Group B drivers on the inside, Reddick will start next to his car owner, Denny Hamlin, the Group A driver who posted the fastest final-round lap at 181.492 mph.

Elliott will start from the inside of the second row beside teammate William Byron (180.155 mph).

The remaining starting spots in the top 10 were filled, respectively, by Kyle Larson (who also started fifth in the Indianapolis 500), Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek.

Stenhouse advanced to the final round of qualifying for the first time this year. Nemechek made the top 10 for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500, where he also started 10th.

Ross Chastain, the last driver currently in a Playoff-eligible position on points (27 ahead of Bubba Wallace), qualified 28th to Wallace’s 17th. There are five races left before the 16-driver Playoff field is set at Darlington Raceway.

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

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