Tyler Reddick Leads Front Row Lockout for 23XI Racing at COTA

Reddick, an eight-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, has landed the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at Circuit of The Americas.

Tyler Reddick captured the pole for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas his 10th NASCAR Cup Series pole. | Photo: Nigel Kinrade, NKP for Toyota GAZOO Racing

There's just something about Circuit of The Americas (COTA), no matter the configuration, that seems to work well for Tyler Reddick.

The 29-year-old driver got around the 2.4-mile road course in Austin, Texas the quickest, securing the pole position for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix -- the third event of the NASCAR Cup Series season.

Reddick, piloting the No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, posted a time of 98.076 seconds (88.095mph) in the earliest moments of the second group's 20-minute time trial session, earning him the pole.

"I was worried I screwed his [Bubba Wallace's] lap up, but he was worried that he screwed my lap up," Reddick joked after qualifying. "All in all, just think today really threw up for a loop, the pace was nowhere what we thought it was going to be, and everyone here on this No 45, and everybody at 23XI [Racing] really had to go to work on our Toyota Camrys."

STARTING LINEUP: EchoParkAutomotive Grand Prix at COTA

It's the 10th NASCAR Cup Series pole position for the native of Corning, California, and the ninth for 23XI Racing in its five-season tenure at NASCAR's top level.

"We made some massive improvements from Practice 1 to Practice 2, obviously we didn't have the fire off lap we were wanting. I never got to go out and find it right away, so just really glad the day went like it did, it's going to be great track position for us tomorrow," Reddick added.

Reddick's teammate, Bubba Wallace, was able to claim the second position in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, marking the first-ever front-row lockout for the three-car team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

"When we come to the road course races, I think everybody in the Toyota camp really leans on Tyler [Reddick], so he does a great job of giving us the right information to chase - sometimes," Wallace joked. "I thought I screwed his lap up, I got into Turn 1 better, and I was just kind of close, and I think if the roles were reversed, I would be like 'back up off me, give me some room', but that's just how good he is."

The runner-up result in qualifying marks the best start on a road course in the NASCAR Cup Series, beating out a fourth-place qualifying run from Charlotte Motor Speedway's ROVAL last Fall.

"Hats off to everyone to 23XI, No. 45, No. 23 on the front row, getting Riley up to speed on everything. I was way out to left field in practice, so we made some big gains on our Mobil 1 Toyota, and now we have to keep finding," said Wallace. "Tomorrow is a different pace for me, racing and being aggressive and staying up front will be the new challenge, but all in all the speed and getting more comfortable in these types of places is what it’s all about.”

Chase Elliott, the winner of the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event at Circuit of The Americas in 2021, will start Sunday's event from third, after a last-second qualifying lap that launched him up the speed charts.

In somewhat of a surprise performance, second-year driver Carson Hocevar managed to qualify fourth for Spire Motorsports, while Daniel Suarez was the best of the four Trackhouse Racing drivers in fifth.

After pacing both practice segments earlier in the morning, Shane Van Gisbergen clocked in sixth place in qualifying. Kyle Larson was seventh, with Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Todd Gilliland rounding out the top-10.

Connor Zilisch, making his highly-anticipated debut in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), put his No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet 14th in the session, earning him a solid row seven start for Sunday's event.

Zilisch is one of four drivers running double-duty between the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. On Friday, the Charlotte, North Carolina native managed to score the pole for Saturday's Focused Health 250, where he'll seek out his second career win.

Other notables include William Byron (15th), Chase Briscoe (18th), Christopher Bell (19th), Alex Bowman (21st), Joey Logano (23rd), Ryan Blaney (25th), Brad Keselowski (26th), and Austin Cindric (36th).

The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, March 2 at 3:30 PM. Coverage of the event will be on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.