Tyler Reddick snags pole position for return to Indianapolis oval
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
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.
Starting Line Up by Row
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/20/2024 @ 02:21 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Bobby Labonte 08/05/00 2:33:56 155.912
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Unleashed Toyota 49.469 181.932
2 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 49.589 181.492
Row 2: 3 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 49.504 181.803
4 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 49.957 180.155
Row 3: 5 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 49.642 181.298
6 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 49.988 180.043
Row 4: 7 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Atlas Ford 50.042 179.849
8 34 Michael McDowell Horizon Hobby Ford 50.308 178.898
Row 5: 9 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kleenex 100 Years/Donors Choose Chevrolet 51.766 173.859
10 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 50.431 178.462
Row 6: 11 3 Austin Dillon SENIX Chevrolet 49.748 180.912
12 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 49.925 180.270
Row 7: 13 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 49.785 180.777
14 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 49.979 180.076
Row 8: 15 16 AJ Allmendinger(i) Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 49.822 180.643
16 21 Harrison Burton Draiver Ford 50.015 179.946
Row 9: 17 23 Bubba Wallace U.S. Air Force Toyota 49.836 180.592
18 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 50.067 179.759
Row 10: 19 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 49.868 180.476
20 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 50.074 179.734
Row 11: 21 10 Noah Gragson Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford 49.956 180.159
22 33 Ty Dillon(i) Titan Risk Solutions Chevrolet 50.092 179.669
Row 12: 23 17 Chris Buescher Castrol Edge Ford 49.993 180.025
24 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Ford 50.103 179.630
Row 13: 25 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 50.233 179.165
26 6 Brad Keselowski Body Guard Ford 50.252 179.097
Row 14: 27 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 50.290 178.962
28 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 50.287 178.973
Row 15: 29 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 50.331 178.816
30 77 Carson Hocevar # Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 50.434 178.451
Row 16: 31 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 50.360 178.713
32 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 50.458 178.366
Row 17: 33 84 Jimmie Johnson Carvana Toyota 50.436 178.444
34 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Patriotic Chevrolet 50.466 178.338
Row 18: 35 51 Justin Haley Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford 50.702 177.508
36 15 Cody Ware Peoria TT Ford 50.923 176.737
Row 19: 37 4 Josh Berry # Panini/Caitlin Clark Ford 50.969 176.578
38 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 55.869 161.091
Row 20: 39 66 BJ McLeod(i) Coble Enterprises Ford 53.012 169.773
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 15 0 Ford 15 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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