Tyler Reddick claimed his first career Xfinity Series pole Saturday at Kansas Speedway, winning the top spot with a speed of 181.117 mph.
Rounding out the top five are Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon
William Byron was the highest qualifying playoff driver in sixth, but he will start from the year because of unapproved adjustments.
Reddick’s pole comes in his 17th Xfinity start. It also continues an impressive stretch for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet. Both Reddick and Alex Bowman earned their first Xfinity wins in the last three races. Reddick won at Kentucky Speedway. Bowman won at Charlotte Motor Speedway two weeks ago.
“This cooler weather might be helping us,” Reddick told NBCSN. “We were really tight yesterday. I think that’s going to help us in the race.”
The pole also comes the week after one of his grandmothers, Carolyn Joyce Brown, passed away. Her name is on the roof of his car.
“The last two weeks have been rough,” Reddick said. “She was battling health for a long time and just finally lost the battle. She watched every single race and ever lap on track. She was there watching it at the race track or at home. Hopefully we can do something special for her. This will be the first race she hasn’t been here to see.”
Here is where the playoff drivers qualified:
William Byron - sixth
Cole Custer - seventh
Matt Tifft - eighth
Brennan Poole - ninth
Daniel Hemric - 10th
Elliott Sadler - 11th
Justin Allgaier - 13th
Ryan Reed - 15th