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STARTING LINEUP: Tyler Reddick Wins Pole For Goodyear 400 At Darlington Raceway

by Hunter Thomas May 11, 2024 0 comments

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Tyler Reddick topped the speed chart during qualifying on Saturday at Darlington Raceway to win the pole for the Goodyear 400.

In the final round, Reddick ran a 28.906-second lap at 170.124 mph. He outran RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski by a mere 0.018 seconds. The pole run marks Reddick’s second of the season and his first at Darlington Raceway.

“I think I have a lot of fun racing here,” Reddick said. “I have a lot of fun racing other competitors, but I also have a lot of fun racing the track as well. My first ever laps in the Next Gen – the NASCAR Next Gen version three car was here – we had a test, and it was a handful to drive. We had a lot of fun in it. We had other rookie tests here as well. I learned a lot about a Xfinity car and the new Cup car at a place like this and that is challenging to do.”

Reddick is coming off a disappointing weekend at Kansas Speedway, where he was fast in the beginning of the event but finished 20th due to sustaining damage. Historically. Kansas is one of Reddick’s best tracks, but now he sets his sights on Darlington, where he also typically runs well.

“We never really gave ourselves a chance,” said Reddick about his team’s performance in Kansas. “I made some pretty big mistakes early in the race and tore the car up pretty bad. We were still able to get back up to fifth with a pretty damaged race car, but yeah, finishing 20^th and running where we did in stage three was not what we wanted. It is okay – it happens, so we just were extra motivated back at the shop this week, and it got us motivated and got our mindset right. We brought a really fast Toyota Camry. We did a good job in practice understanding what our car needed for qualifying and we just maximized qualifying well.”

Reddick’s 23XI Racing No. 45 team has brought another fast Toyota to Darlington. In the past four races at Darlington, Reddick has finished inside of the top-three in three of the events. Reddick is a driver who enjoys running right next to the wall, not only at Darlington but at other track as well. He believes that risk vs. reward has helped him perform well at the Lady in Black.

“I’ve had some unique experiences that have probably helped me get better here, but I think the biggest thing is just how the tires wear and the amount you have to move around,” Reddick said. “The amount of risk that you have to take every single lap and manage that for a whole race is kind of benefitted me and how I drive a race car.”

Starting alongside of Reddick on Sunday will be Keselowski. Chris Buescher, who lost at Kansas by a mere 0.001 seconds will start up front in third, followed by Ty Gibbs and William Byron. Defending Cook Out Southern 500 winner, Kyle Larson will start sixth. Rounding out the top-10 starting spots is Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr.

The Goodyear 400 will broadcast live on FS1 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Cover Photo Credit: Greyson Johnson/TheFourthTurn.com