23XI Racing issued a statement in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session, which set the starting lineup for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan secured its first-ever front row sweep in the session.
RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Starting Lineup
Tyler Reddick, who is now a 10-time polesitter through his NASCAR Cup Series career, took the pole for Sunday’s race with a lap time of 1 minute, and 38.076 seconds (88.095 mph). Reddick bested his teammate Bubba Wallace by a margin of 0.224 seconds.
The 23XI Racing duo had an interesting strategy as they attacked the track together early in their qualifying group. As Reddick led Wallace around the 17-turn course, he admitted he was scared of messing up his teammate’s lap. However, after climbing from his car, Wallace explained to him he was worried about throwing Reddick off his line as well.
“I was worried I screwed his lap up, but he was worried that he screwed my lap up,” Reddick explained.
Both drivers were able to keep their cars within the track limits, and they limited the mistakes to secure the top-two starting spots for Sunday’s event at COTA. Reddick praised his team for finding additional speed in his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota following the day’s two practice sessions, where he ranked 16th-fastest in each.
“All in all, just I think today really threw us 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 Camry’s, and we made massive improvements I think from practice one to practice two,” Reddick explained. “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.”
This pole position is Reddick’s second career pole at Circuit of the Americas as he took the pole position in the Inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event on the course in 2021. Reddick, who won this race in 2023, will now look to put himself in a position to pick up another win in Austin.
While Wallace isn’t known as much of a road racer, the driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota has put in major effort in recent years to improve his performance on tracks where right turns are as prevalent as left turns, and he’s had a great tutor in Reddick. It’s paying off, and on Saturday it paid off as Wallace secured important track position for Sunday’s race.
“Yeah, 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,” Wallace explained.
Chase Elliott clocked in third-fastest in a lap turned in the waning moments of the qualifying session, and he’ll be joined by Carson Hocevar, who ruffled many feathers in a runner-up finish at Atlanta last week, in Row 2.
Daniel Suarez, who was the fastest driver in the opening group of the qualifying session, held on to the fifth starting spot after it appeared the second qualifying group had the more advantageous track conditions.
Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Connor Zilisch, an 18-year-old Trackhouse Racing development driver making his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend, will start Sunday’s race from the 14th position in the No. 87 Red Bull-sponsored Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
