HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The Regular Season Championship leaders will start alongside one another on the front row for Sunday‘s Straight Talk Wireless 400 playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), with 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick besting Hendrick Motorsports‘ Kyle Larson by a slight 0.077 seconds Saturday morning to claim the pole position.
This is the 28-year-old Californian’s third pole of the 2024 season in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota — the ninth of his career — and comes at a crucial time in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs‘ Round of 8 with Sunday the second of three races that will decide which four drivers advance to the Nov. 10 Phoenix race championship eligible to hoist the big trophy.
RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos
Reddick, a two-time Xfinity Series winner at the 1.5-miler, turned a 167.452 mph lap in his Toyota Camry to set the pace and earn the first pit stall selection. His work gave Toyota a three-series pole sweep for the weekend, with Toyotas starting first in Saturday‘s Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series races — the 13th time the make has done that.
“The pole has eluded me in the Cup Series here. We‘ve been very close and just needed a very good Round 2. I think for our group, we ran a really good lap for sure,” said Reddick, the Regular Season Champion, who arrives in South Florida ranked sixth in the championship standings, 30 points behind Hendrick Motorsports‘ William Byron in that all-important fourth-place transfer position.
“It‘s always nice to run a really good lap, but when you run your lap, and five cars go after you, you know they have the opportunity to adjust, so I was curious to see what the 5 [Larson]and 20 {Christopher Bell] were going to do there and obviously, the 5 got pretty close.
“All in all, it was a great day for us and looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Toyotas and Chevrolets dominated the opening round of qualifying putting five cars each into the final one-lap run for the pole. Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Christopher Bell — the current playoff points leader — will start third in the No. 20 Toyota, alongside teammate and three-time Homestead winner Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won the Talladega Superspeedway race three weeks ago, will start the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet fifth, with JGR‘s Martin Truex Jr. starting sixth in the No. 19 Toyota.
Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott, who goes into the race ranked last among the eight Playoff drivers — 53 points below the elimination line — will start the No. 9 Chevrolet seventh alongside JGR‘s Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota. Kaulig Racing‘s Daniel Hemric and Spire Motorsports‘ Justin Haley will start their Chevrolets from the fifth row, marking the best qualifying effort of the year for Haley and the first time he‘s advanced to the final round.
No Fords advanced to the final round for the first time since the Circuit of The Americas race on March 24. Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Josh Berry was the fastest Mustang Saturday and will start 12th.
RYAN BLANEY: 2023 Cup champion confident in finding momentum
Only three playoff drivers did not advance to the 10-car final qualifying round. Among them is reigning series champion Team Penske‘s Ryan Blaney, who will start his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang 20th on the grid. He‘s currently ranked seventh of the eight drivers, 47 points below the elimination line.
Hendrick Motorsports‘ Byron — the 2021 Homestead winner — will roll off 25th in the No. 24 Chevrolet. He is in that all-important fourth position in the standings, 27 points up on Hamlin in fifth.
Team Penske‘s Joey Logano — who earned the first of four Championship 4 berths with a Las Vegas win last week — qualified 26th but will start from the rear after his No. 22 Penske team made a steering system change post-qualifying.
Tyler Reddick tops practice leaderboard
Tyler Reddick concluded Cup Series practice with the fastest single-lap time, with the No. 45 23XI Racing driver wheeling a 167.769 mph circuit. Ross Chastain finished runner-up with a 167.764 mph lap. Bubba Wallace (167.754 mph), Michael McDowell (167.676 mph) and Brad Keselowski (167.338 mph) rounded out the top five.
Erik Jones (167.338 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (166.842 mph), Denny Hamlin (166.646 mph), Joey Logano (166.636 mph) and Zane Smith (166.543 mph) rounded out the top 10.
MORE: Practice results
Reddick wheeled the fastest lap time during Group A practice. Smith’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, meanwhile, was fastest in Group B practice.
Contributing: Staff reports
