Reddick Rockets To Brickyard 400 Pole Position

Tyler Reddick celebrates the Busch Pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

INDIANAPOLIS – Tyler Reddick swept both rounds of Busch Light Pole Qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to earn the pole for the 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 presented by PPG.

As the fastest Group B driver in round one, Reddick earned the right to take his pole run last at the historic 2.5-mile oval, and the Corning, Calif., native left nothing on the table.

Reddick turned in a time of 49.469 seconds (181.932 mph) with the No. 45 Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE to secure his eighth career NASCAR Cup Series pole and second of the season.

It’s his first Brickyard 400 pole in just his second attempt at the crown jewel event.

“Qualifying today seemed like it was pretty sketchy for everyone,” said Reddick, who won on the IMS road course in 2022 and hopes to become the first Cup Series driver to triumph on both configurations.

“I think some of it here was the placement of the [alternate] start-finish line, where everyone was just pushing so hard through turn four, so it came down to being mindful of that,” he added. “Obviously in round one, we had a big moment over there, but we didn’t lose momentum, which is super, super key on a lap here. I knew what the target lap time was [for the pole], and I did not feel great about my turn one, but the rest of the lap we were really, really stout.

“It’s just really cool to win a pole on the oval here. I’ve been very fortunate to come here and have a lot of speed on the road course, so it’s great to be back on the oval here and have that speed again.”

Reddick will be joined on the front row by his 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, who posted a lap of 49.589 seconds (181.492 mph) with the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and was best among the Group A drivers in the final round.

The 28-year-old appreciated the irony of that scenario, considering Hamlin had bumped him off of several Cup Series poles in the past.

“I’ve always been on the other end of that!” Reddick noted with a laugh. “What made that seem even worse was that it was at road courses, where I’ve been strong the past few years. It’s nice to be on the other side for a change and beat him … at least on Saturday. Race day is when it really counts.”

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Kyle Larson start third through fifth, respectively, for Sunday’s 400-mile race at IMS. Larson also started fifth for his Indianapolis 500 debut in May.

Sophomore Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs rolls off sixth, with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney starting seventh as the best driver among the Ford stable.

Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek closed the top 10.

Austin Dillon (Group B) and two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano (Group A) were the best in their respective qualifying groups that failed to advance to the second round. They’ll start 11th and 12th.

Notables lining up deeper in the field include Martin Truex Jr. (14th), native Hoosier Chase Briscoe (20th), 2018 Brickyard 400 winner Brad Keselowski (26th), five-time winner Jimmie Johnson (33rd), and two-time winner Kyle Busch.

Broadcast coverage of Sunday’s 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 – the first running of the race since 2020 – is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.