Regular-season champ Tyler Reddick takes NASCAR Cup pole at Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Regular-season champion Tyler Reddick won the pole Saturday for the second race of the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs Sunday.

Reddick turned a 167.452 mph lap in a Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing to best Hendricks Motorsports driver Kyle Larson by 0.077 seconds and take the top starting spot Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reddick is one of seven drivers vying for the remaining three spots in the Cup Series championship finale at Phoenix. Joey Logano of Team Penske became the first driver locked into the championship when he won at Las Vegas last week.

It is Reddick's third pole of 2024 in the No. 45 Camry.

Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing, who won the race at Homestead last year, qualified third in the No. 20 Camry. Bell's Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin was next in the No. 11 Camry.

Qualifying positions for the remaining playoff drivers were Chase Elliott in seventh, reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney in 20th and William Byron in 25th.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing