By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Inclement weather necessitated the cancellation of Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway Friday evening and no one was happier about the development than 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who will now lead the field to green in Sunday night’s Chase-opening Cook Out Southern 500 (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This is the eighth time this season the five-race NASCAR Cup Series winner and driver of the No. 45 Toyota will start from the number one position on the grid – five times through a formal qualifying session and three others as a result of a cancelled session due to weather.
“This is literally the best-case scenario for us,’’ said a smiling Reddick, who has now started among the top-10 at every Darlington race throughout his entire four-year career at 23XI Racing.
Reddick led 77 of the 293 laps and won from pole position here in May.
“We were so strong here in the Spring,” he said. “Ironically enough, as I kind of got going in Cup racing it was during COVID with no practice at all and I got very used to just having to figure it out in the first corner.
“So for me, generally, I feel like we’re in a really good spot most weekends when this happens. But beyond that, as strong as we were, I know teams may want to try thing to close the gap, but no one had that opportunity today so that helps us even more.’’
Reddick will share the front row with fellow title contender Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Chase drivers, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece and championship leader Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, will roll off third and fourth.
Hamlin, whose five Darlington wins is most in the field, won the regular season title and starts the race with a 25-point advantage on the 16-driver championship field.
Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who is not championship-eligible, will start fifth followed by a pair of Chase drivers, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and JGR’s Chase Briscoe, who is the two-time defending race winner and the only other multi-time winner among the field.
Three non-Chase drivers – HYAK Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman round out the top-10 on the grid.
The rain-out metric has made for an interesting challenge for several of the other Chase drivers. JGR’s Christopher Bell starts 11th with Penske’s Joey Logano – a three-time series champion – 13th on the grid. Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace will start 17th alongside Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott – tops on the grid among the three title-chasing Hendrick team Chevrolets.
Hendrick’s William Byron (20th), Penske’s Ryan Blaney (24th), JGR’s Ty Gibbs (28th), Spire’s Carson Hocevar (34th) and RFK’s Chris Buescher (25th) round out the Chase field on the 38-car grid.
Logano, Larson and Byron are all former Darlington race winners.
Interview: Pole Sitter Tyler Reddick (No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota) –
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Cook Out Southern 500
