NASCAR Cup Darlington starting lineup: Tyler Reddick beats Bubba Wallace to pole
"I damn near wrecked," said Reddick, who hit the wall on his way to earning pole position for Sunday's race
In a tricky qualifying session at Darlington Raceway, Tyler Reddick went fastest of all with a 29.072s lap, even while hitting the wall at the exit of Turn 4.
The closest driver to the championship leader in qualifying was the same driver closest to him in the championship standings -- 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, who ended the session 0.126s behind the pole-sitter.
"Gosh, I came off of (Turn) 2 and I asked Billy (Scott, crew chief) how was it and he said really good," said Reddick, who now has 13 career poles in the Cup Series. "Believe it or not, I tried to take it easy and just finish the lap in (Turns) 3 and 4. I just overdid the throttle and knew I was in trouble about a third of a way through, but unfortunately, knew if I lift, I'm not going to have a good lap, so I just had to hit the wall at that point."
There were no incidents during the session, but several cars touched the wall, as is to be expected at Darlington. McDowell, Jones, Gibbs, and Hocevar were some of the drivers with the biggest contact with the wall, and Hocevar -- who also hit the wall in practice -- smacked it twice during his lap.
Busch and RCR teammate A. Dillon held the two fastest times for a bit, but the pace rapidly picked up as the final two cars went out onto the track.
It began with Keselowski, but his time on the provisional pole was short-lived. Reddick rocketed to the top of the time sheets, almost four full tenths quicker in a stunning lap. He also hit the wall at the exit of Turn 4.
His teammate tried to match him, but Wallace ultimately slotted into second, 0.126s behind. Hendrick drivers were the closest to 23XI, with Chase Elliott qualifying third, Kyle Larson fourth, and then the RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski leading Ford in fifth.
Photos from Darlington - Saturday
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington - Saturday, in photos
Darlington Starting Lineup
| cla | # | driver | manufacturer | time | gap | mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 |  Tyler Reddick |
Toyota | 29.072 | 169.152 | |
| 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace |
Toyota | 29.196 | 0.124 | 168.434 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet | 29.319 | 0.247 | 167.727 |
| 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet | 29.377 | 0.305 | 167.396 |
| 5 | 6 | Brad Keselowski |
Ford | 29.424 | 0.352 | 167.129 |
| 6 | 17 | Chris Buescher |
Ford | 29.443 | 0.371 | 167.021 |
| 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | 29.476 | 0.404 | 166.834 |
| 8 | 8 | Kyle Busch |
Chevrolet | 29.478 | 0.406 | 166.823 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | 29.500 | 0.428 | 166.698 |
| 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet | 29.538 | 0.466 | 166.484 |
| 11 | 7 |  Daniel Suarez |
Chevrolet | 29.550 | 0.478 | 166.416 |
| 12 | 2 | Austin Cindric |
Ford | 29.570 | 0.498 | 166.304 |
| 13 | 24 | William Byron |
Chevrolet | 29.601 | 0.529 | 166.130 |
| 14 | 35 | Riley Herbst |
Toyota | 29.613 | 0.541 | 166.062 |
| 15 | 48 | Justin Allgaier |
Chevrolet | 29.624 | 0.552 | 166.001 |
| 16 | 77 | Carson Hocevar |
Chevrolet | 29.677 | 0.605 | 165.704 |
| 17 | 60 | Ryan Preece |
Ford | 29.708 | 0.636 | 165.531 |
| 18 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
Chevrolet | 29.721 | 0.649 | 165.459 |
| 19 | 38 | Zane Smith |
Ford | 29.723 | 0.651 | 165.448 |
| 20 | 71 | Michael McDowell |
Chevrolet | 29.731 | 0.659 | 165.403 |
| 21 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek |
Toyota | 29.776 | 0.704 | 165.153 |
| 22 | 20 | Christopher Bell |
Toyota | 29.785 | 0.713 | 165.103 |
| 23 | 19 | Chase Briscoe |
Toyota | 29.819 | 0.747 | 164.915 |
| 24 | 43 | Erik Jones |
Toyota | 29.825 | 0.753 | 164.882 |
| 25 | 1 | Ross Chastain |
Chevrolet | 29.847 | 0.775 | 164.760 |
| 26 | 21 | Josh Berry |
Ford | 29.878 | 0.806 | 164.589 |
| 27 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger |
Chevrolet | 29.885 | 0.813 | 164.551 |
| 28 | 54 | Ty Gibbs |
Toyota | 29.889 | 0.817 | 164.529 |
| 29 | 22 | Joey Logano |
Ford | 29.912 | 0.840 | 164.402 |
| 30 | 4 | Noah Gragson |
Ford | 29.980 | 0.908 | 164.029 |
| 31 | 34 | Todd Gilliland |
Ford | 29.997 | 0.925 | 163.936 |
| 32 | 88 | Connor Zilisch |
Chevrolet | 30.091 | 1.019 | 163.424 |
| 33 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen |
Chevrolet | 30.125 | 1.053 | 163.240 |
| 34 | 51 | Cody Ware |
Chevrolet | 30.309 | 1.237 | 162.249 |
| 35 | 41 | Cole Custer |
Chevrolet | 30.422 | 1.350 | 161.646 |
| 36 | 10 | Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet | 30.584 | 1.512 | 160.790 |
| 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill |
Ford | 32.044 | 2.972 | 153.464 |
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