CONCORD, N.C. — Tyler Reddick enters Sunday's Cup Series race at the Charlotte Roval in essentially a must-win situation. He can better pursue this outcome after winning the pole in qualifying.
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The 23XI Racing driver led the way during Saturday's on-track session with a lap of 85.939 seconds. This marked his second pole win of the season and the 11th of his Cup Series career. Reddick also won the pole at the Charlotte Roval in 2023.
Shane van Gisbergen, the heavy favorite to win, qualified second with a lap of 85.971 seconds. Ty Gibbs qualified third with a lap of 86.160 seconds.
MORE: Tyler Reddick wins pole, full lineup
"Incredible effort by this team," Reddick said after winning the pole. "This has been a track that we've been strong at and the tire's a lot different, obviously, as we saw today. Really proud of this Jordan Wings Toyota Camry.
"It's just been a difficult week (with his son's health concerns), it's nice we got the job done today. We obviously have some work to do tomorrow, but we did a good job of getting the track position."
The rest of the top 10 included Kyle Larson (86.306), Chris Buescher (86.480), Michael McDowell (86.571), Christopher Bell (86.591), Chase Briscoe (86.601), AJ Allmendinger (86.608), and Ross Chastain (86.684).
Only five of the 12 playoff drivers qualified inside the top 10. Ryan Blaney just missed the cut by qualifying 11th with a lap of 86.770 seconds. Bubba Wallace followed with a lap of 86.770 seconds.
The other playoff drivers included William Byron in 13th (86.809), Denny Hamlin in 14th (86.929), Chase Elliott in 15th (86.984), Joey Logano in 17th (87.075), and Austin Cindric in 19th (87.085).
Cindric, like Reddick, enters the elimination race in a must-win situation. He does not have the advantage of starting from the pole, but he has a clear strategy. He can't advance on points. He must win.
"Honestly, regardless of what happens tomorrow, I'm super proud of everyone's effort this week," Cindric said. "A lot has gone into it, not that we don't put in the maximum, but I've watched a lot of people go outside of their comfort zones to make sure this week was gonna be as good of a chance as possible to have a shot at a win.
"Like I said, I'm not really sure what tomorrow looks like yet, but I can tell you that whatever it is won't be from a lack of trying."
