Rebounding from a disappointing Round of 8 opener, Tyler Reddick captured his third pole position of the season for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The 23XI Racing driver, whose No. 45 Toyota flipped in a 35th-place finish Oct. 20 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualified first ahead of fellow playoff drivers Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin.
Those four championship-eligible drivers will start in the first two rows, and Reddick’s 32.248-second lap around the 1.5-mile oval was the fastest.
“It’s a huge deal for us,” Reddick told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns after the ninth pole of his career in NASCAR’s premier series. “This Camry was really, really fast. It was nice to be able to capitalize on qualifying.
How to watch Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Chase Elliott enters Homestead last among the playoff drivers and says he’s in a “must-win situation” to reach the Championship 4.
RESULTS: Click here for qualifying speeds at Homestead-Miami Speedway
STARTING LINEUP: By row l By car number
“All things considered how last week ended, we’re picking up right where we left off. This is my kind of place, and we know what we need to do (Sunday).”
Reddick has three top fives in four Cup starts at Homestead with a best finish of third. He won the 2018 and ’19 Xfinity championships by winning the season finale at the track.
Playoff driver Chase Elliott (seventh) also made the final round in qualifying.
Title contenders Ryan Blaney (20th), William Byron (25th) and Joey Logano (26th) qualified outside the top 10.
Logano is the only driver locked into the Championship 4 finale after his victory at Las Vegas. Entering Homestead, the three drivers above the cutline are Christopher Bell (plus-42 points), Kyle Larson (plus-35) and William Byron (plus-27).
Below the cutline are Hamlin (minus-27), Reddick (minus-30), Blaney (minus-47) and Elliott (minus-53).
The next two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway will lock in the other three title-eligible spots in the Championship 4 field of the Nov. 10 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Here’s the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway:
ROW 1
1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota, 32.248 seconds, 167.452 mph
2. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet, 32.325, 167.053
ROW 2
3. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota, 32.369, 166.826
4. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, 32.428, 166.523
ROW 3
5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet, 32.599, 165.649
6. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Toyota, 32.469, 166.312
ROW 4
7. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet, 32.693, 165.173
8. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota, 32.505, 166.128
ROW 5
9. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Chevrolet, 33.059, 163.344
10. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet, 32.596, 165.664
ROW 6
11. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet, 32.441, 166.456
12. Josh Berry, No. 4 Ford, 32.383, 166.754
ROW 7
13. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford, 32.480 166.256
14. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota, 32.393, 166.703
ROW 8
15. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet, 32.518, 166.062
16. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Ford, 32.418, 166.574
ROW 9
17. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet, 32.530, 166.001
18. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford, 32.465, 166.333
ROW 10
19. Zane Smith, No. 71 Chevrolet, 32.537, 165.965
20. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford, 32.477, 166.272
ROW 11
21. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford, 32.544, 165.929
22. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet, 32.507, 166.118
ROW 12
23. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet, 32.554, 165.878
24. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford, 32.510, 166.103
ROW 13
25. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet, 32.581, 165.741
26. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, 32.562, 165.837
ROW 14
27. Kaz Grala, No. 15 Ford, 32.644, 165.421
28. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota, 32.577, 165.761
ROW 15
29. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota, 32.652, 165.380
30. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, 32.597, 165.659
ROW 16
31. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, 32.703, 165.122
32. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet, 32.637, 165.456
ROW 17
33. Corey LaJoie, No. 51 Ford, 32.801, 164.629
34. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Ford, 32.653, 165.375
ROW 18
35. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Ford, 32.844, 164.414
36. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford, 32.810, 164.584
ROW 19
37. JJ Yeley, No. 44 Chevrolet, 33.063, 163.325
38. Chad Finchum, No. 66 Ford, 33.794, 159.792
