LAS VEGAS — Tyler Reddick spoiled the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field, scoring the pole for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Reddick navigated the 1.5-mile oval at a top speed of 184.603 mph, to earn his third pole of the season in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“We were a bit off in practice,” Reddick told NBC Sports. “We went to work. We made some fantastic adjustments going into qualifying and got the car a lot closer.”
Behind Reddick, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric qualified second, 0.05 seconds off of Reddick’s pole time.
“I feel like I left a little bit on the table, probably in three and four during the run,” Cindric said. “It was a good lap by Tyler (Reddick). We had great speed in our Autotrader Ford Mustang. It has been since Gateway that all four of our cars made it to the final round, so great job by the team and everybody involved. We have to translate good Saturdays into Sundays. We aren’t in the playoffs anymore but we still want to win races and I think we have a good shot to have a good day tomorrow.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was the highest qualifying playoff driver in third, with a pair of Team Penske teammates in Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano rounding out the top five.
Denny Hamlin will have work to do on Sunday, after qualifying 31st. Hamlin is the defending winner of the fall race at Las Vegas.