Tyler Reddick was last but not least in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying Saturday at Kansas Speedway. His lap of 29.899 seconds at 180.608 mph in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet earned him the Busch Light Pole Award.
“It’s reassuring,” Reddick said. “The last few times we’ve been here, we’ve had a car capable of leading, and we’ve been able to do that. It’s just been a matter of putting together the whole day, which is something we’ve fought at times throughout the year. Starting first is great any weekend, but being able to have that first pit stall is going to be key.”
It’s Reddick’s second pole this year and his third career pole in the series. He outpaced Team Penske’s Joey Logano who will start second in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 for the second Playoff race in the Round of 16.
“I haven’t seen his lap but I thought we had a pretty good lap,” Logano said. “Our car was tighter than the first run. It was still good the first run. I hated to adjust on it too much and I probably steered Paul (Wolfe) a little bit in the wrong direction there and didn’t really adjust enough. I am so proud of the Shell Pennzoil team.
“We picked up a lot from practice and laid down a couple of quick laps there. A couple of front row starts in a row. That first pit stall is pretty big here though. I wish we had that. But we will go at them from where we are at.”
The top five drivers are all in the Playoffs with Alex Bowman starting in third, Christopher Bell in fourth and Ross Chastain in fifth. Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, William Byron and Chris Buescher, respectively, rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.
Kansas – Starting positions for drivers in the Playoffs:
1 – Tyler Reddick
2 – Joey Logano
3 – Alex Bowman
4- Christopher Bell
5 – Ross Chastain
7 – Kyle Larson
8- Austin Cindric
9 – William Byron
11 – Austin Dillon
13 – Chase Briscoe
14 – Kevin Harvick
15 – Daniel Suarez
17 – Ryan Blaney
20 – Kyle Busch
22 – Chase Elliott
25 – Denny Hamlin
Complete Starting Lineup:
