Tyler Reddick will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after putting together a huge turnaround in qualifying.
Reddick posted a 29.054-second lap at 131.094 mph to claim the pole for the Dollar Tree 301, narrowly beating Josh Berry by just 0.015 seconds. William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top five.
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The pole came after a practice session that gave little indication Reddick would be the driver to beat in qualifying. The No. 45 was only 31st fastest in practice, but Reddick and his team made the adjustments they needed before his qualifying run.
It continues an impressive qualifying season for Reddick, who earned his fourth pole of 2026 and 15th of his Cup Series career. More importantly, starting up front could be a major advantage at a track where passing can be difficult and track position often plays a major role in deciding the race.
Josh Berry will share the front row with Reddick after running a 29.069. Berry was followed closely by Byron at 29.079 and Hamlin at 29.081, putting three Toyotas inside the first five starting positions when including van Gisbergen’s 29.106.
Christopher Bell qualified sixth, followed by Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman to complete the top 10. Just 0.150 seconds separated Reddick from Bowman in 10th, showing how tight the field was around the 1.058-mile track.
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Several big names will have considerably more work to do. Joey Logano qualified 21st, Bubba Wallace starts 23rd, Brad Keselowski is 25th and Chase Elliott will have to work his way forward from 29th.
Reddick now has the best seat in the house when the green flag falls Sunday. After going from 31st in practice to the top of the board in qualifying, the question becomes whether the speed the No. 45 found for one lap can carry over into 301 laps of racing at New Hampshire.
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