Tyler Reddick, racing outside the playoffs and set to move to a new team next season, scored a minor upset Saturday by winning the pole for Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Reddick turned a lap at 184.603 mph to win the first starting spot for Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC) race. Reddick was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and is in his final few races for Richard Childress Racing before moving to 23XI Racing next season.
“We were a bit off in practice,” Reddick told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “We went to work. We made some fantastic adjustments going into qualifying and got the car a lot closer.”
MORE: Las Vegas Cup qualifying results
MORE: Las Vegas Cup starting lineup
The pole is Reddick’s third of the season.
He’ll start alongside Austin Cindric, who also failed to reach the playoffs’ Round of 8.
Following in the top five were William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano -- all playoff drivers.
Sunday’s race is the first in the round. If any of the eight playoff drivers win, he will automatically advance to the Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway.
