Tyler Reddick denied Shane van Gisbergen pole position at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Saturday, taking the top spot with a lap of 1:25.939s, just 0.032s clear of the Supercars ace.
This is a huge pole for Reddick, who is in the Cup elimination standings 29 points below the cutline going into Sunday’s race.
“Just an incredible effort by this team,” said Reddick. “This has been a track we’ve been pretty strong at. The tire is a lot different. We saw that today, so just really proud of this Toyota Camry. It’s been a difficult week, and it’s nice we got the job done today. We obviously have some work to do tomorrow. We did a good job getting the track position, so I’ll try to keep Shane behind me and see if we can get it done tomorrow.
Behind the front row of Reddick and SVG, Ty Gibbs qualified third, Kyle Larson fourth, and Chris Buescher fifth. Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, and Ross Chastain filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Joey Logano, who is on the playoff hot seat with just 13 points between himself and Chastain, will start 17th.
Group A
In Group A qualifying, 2023 Charlotte Roval winner A.J. Allmendinger set the early pace, before getting toppled by Ty Gibbs. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver went nearly half-a-second faster, leading at the halfway point of qualifying with a 1:26.160s lap.
Several cars continued to struggle for grip, resulting in minor incidents all around the corners. Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez touched the wall at the exit of Turn 1, Austin Dillon blew through the frontstretch chicane, and Kyle Busch clipped the tire pack on his through the same area.
Carson Hocevar actually went airborne over the curbs at the exit of the frontstretch chicane, causing the car to spin out once it slammed back down onto the ground.
Group B
Group B featured all 12 remaining playoff drivers, so the stakes were far higher and the times ultimately faster.
Ross Chastain, who is 13 points below the cutline, was the first driver out on track. He had an eventful lap, and nearly lost control just before the finish line as the car transitioned from the apron back onto the banking.
Austin Cindric lost the rear and did a half-spin under braking into the Turn 7 hairpin. Christopher Bell had a similar issue as he tried to drive it deep into the corner.
SVG waited until late in the session to go out, and became the first to break into the 1:25s with his fast lap, only to get beat by Reddick soon after.
This is Reddick’s 11th career pole and his second of the 2025 season. He also the only playoff driver still in contention for the title without a win this year, but a victory on Sunday would instantly vault him into the Round of 8.
Meanwhile, SVG is hunting his fifth consecutive win on a road/street course this year.
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