Tyler Reddick claims third 2026 pole position in Kansas time trials
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
KANSAS CITY, Kansas—A fourth victory from the pole position would suit Tyler Reddick just fine, after the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota prevailed in Saturday’s highly competitive qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.142 seconds (185.300 mph) to claim his third Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Kansas and the 14th of his career.
In doing so, Reddick edged his car owner, Denny Hamlin (185.179 mph), by 0.019 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the ninth NASCAR Cup Series race of the year.
The pole was the fifth in the last six Kansas races for Toyota drivers.
The 2026 season already has been a remarkable one for Reddick, who won the first three races and added a fourth victory March 22 at Darlington Raceway. Reddick’s last three wins have come from the pole position, at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (starting on metrics after a qualifying rainout), Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Darlington.
Should Reddick win on Sunday, he would become the fourth driver in Cup Series history—and the first since Dale Earnhardt in 1987—to win five of the first nine events of a season. Reddick currently tops the series standings with a 62-point edge over second-place Ryan Blaney.
“We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta,” Reddick said of his and his team’s ability to convert qualifying speed into race wins. “COTA obviously I felt like the 12 (Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run. So, Darlington, same thing.
“Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short-run speed that we have appears to be all there today.”
Bristol winner Ty Gibbs and defending series champion Kyle Larson posted identical times (29.192 seconds for 184.982 mph) and will start third and fourth, respectively, with Gibbs getting the nod on owner points. Larson is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe qualified fifth at 184.938 mph, as Toyotas claimed four of the top five starting positions. Carson Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
Starting Line Up by Row
Kansas Speedway
AdventHealth 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/18/2026 @ 05:55 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Chase Elliott 10/21/18 02:38:02 152.057
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 45 Tyler Reddick Supply House Toyota 29.142 185.300
2 11 Denny Hamlin National Debt Relief Toyota 29.161 185.179
Row 2: 3 54 Ty Gibbs Zep Toyota 29.192 184.982
4 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 29.192 184.982
Row 3: 5 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 29.199 184.938
6 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 29.212 184.856
Row 4: 7 17 Chris Buescher Dillon's/Gold Peak Ford 29.227 184.761
8 7 Daniel Suarez NationsGuard Chevrolet 29.230 184.742
Row 5: 9 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Scotts Ford 29.231 184.735
10 23 Bubba Wallace Boys & Girls Club of America Toyota 29.280 184.426
Row 6: 11 20 Christopher Bell Reser's Fine Foods Toyota 29.325 184.143
12 60 Ryan Preece Kickstand Cocktails Ford 29.367 183.880
Row 7: 13 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 29.402 183.661
14 24 William Byron All-Pro Reconditioning Chevrolet 29.504 183.026
Row 8: 15 22 Joey Logano Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 29.507 183.007
16 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Pylon Aviation Chevrolet 29.532 182.852
Row 9: 17 97 Shane Van Gisbergen Red Bull Chevrolet 29.537 182.822
18 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life/Triad Partners Chevrolet 29.541 182.797
Row 10: 19 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 29.561 182.673
20 3 Austin Dillon Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Chevrolet 29.569 182.624
Row 11: 21 6 Brad Keselowski Trimble Ford 29.577 182.574
22 35 Riley Herbst TREETOP Toyota 29.583 182.537
Row 12: 23 8 Kyle Busch Nicokick x zone Cranberry Chevrolet 29.653 182.106
24 67 Corey Heim(i) Robinhood Toyota 29.664 182.039
Row 13: 25 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 29.670 182.002
26 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 29.723 181.677
Row 14: 27 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 29.726 181.659
28 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 29.739 181.580
Row 15: 29 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Chevrolet 29.739 181.580
30 21 Josh Berry DEX Ford 29.768 181.403
Row 16: 31 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Apple Chevrolet 29.781 181.324
32 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 29.831 181.020
Row 17: 33 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 29.849 180.911
34 2 Austin Cindric PPG Ford 30.014 179.916
Row 18: 35 51 Cody Ware True Brand Chevrolet 30.199 178.814
36 88 Connor Zilisch # Choice Privileges Chevrolet 30.246 178.536
Row 19: 37 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 31.364 172.172
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Ford 10 0
Toyota 10 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Our Partners
.png)
