Tyler Reddick outpaced the field with a 99.378 mph lap during qualifying to win the Busch Light Pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at The Brickyard.
It is the second pole for the Richard Childress Racing driver in his third full year of completion in the Cup Series and his ninth top-five starting position this season.
“It certainly seemed like a pretty good lap,” Reddick said, “but definitely not a pole lap. So certainly right away we were hustling to cool the car down and cool the brakes down so we could re-run but it ended up being a good enough lap and it stood up against the nine other competitors.
“But yeah I definitely had a little bit of concern, missing it a little bit in turn four and just a little bit in the braking zone. Just glad it was a good enough lap. Certainly, you always try and run the perfect lap and we didn’t quite do that but it was good enough to win the pole.”
Austin Cindric’s lap of 99.095 mph earned him the second starting position.
“When you get beat for pole I guess you’d rather be a chunk slower than a little bit slower because I feel like there’s a little bit I could have done better,” Cindric said, “but not a chunk. I felt like our Ford Mustang was fast all day and I’m proud of that effort. We’re trying a few new things this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out in the race.”
Chase Briscoe ((98.962 mph), Christopher Bell (98.721 mph) and Joey Logano (98.476 mph) rounded out the top five fastest qualifiers followed by Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland and Kyle Busch to complete the top-10 starters for Sunday’s race.
Team Penske drivers were strong in qualifying with Cindric, Logano and Blaney grabbing starting spots in the top six.
“It’s a good start and hopefully we can continue that,” Logano said. “It’s always special to win here. When your boss owns the track it probably adds a little bit to that, but a top-five qualifying effort is nice and we’ll try to pick it up a little from there.”
Notably, Elliott was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top 10. His teammates Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman will start 22nd, 23rd and 28th, respectively.
Ty Gibbs will start 26th, filling in for the second consecutive race for Kurt Busch. Busch has not been medically cleared to race since his accident during qualifying at Pocono Raceway.
Tune into Sunday’s Verizon 200 at The Brickyard at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and the NBC Sports App with radio coverage on IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
