NASCAR playoffs at Charlotte Roval starting lineup: Tyler Reddick wins his second pole of 2023

Reddick will start first on Sunday as he looks to advance to the Round of 8

By Steven Taranto

Oct 7, 2023 at 2:53 pm ET • 1 min read

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Tyler Reddick won the pole for the Bank of America Roval 400 in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, posting a lap of 81.214 (102.839 mph) in the final round of qualifying. Reddick will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday's playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Roval, putting himself in prime position to advance to the Round of 8 after entering the weekend two points below the cut line to move on to the next round.

Reddick's second pole of 2023 was secured when fellow playoff contender and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin spun out entering the backstretch chicane on his qualifying run, hopping over the curbing before coming to rest in the racing groove and failing to get his car re-fired. The incident prevented Hamlin or Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs from posting a lap, ending the final round of qualifying with just about a minute to go in the session.

Denny Hamlin SPINS in qualifying! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/SZ3Jz73gf2
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 7, 2023

Hamlin's misfortunes on his pole run paled in comparison to the problems that Kyle Larson and his team now face: Early in practice, Larson got sideways on the exit of turn 8 and overcorrected, sending the right front of his No. 5 Chevrolet hard into the outside wall. Larson's damage forced his team to have to go to a backup car for Sunday's race, and he will start at the rear of the field in 36th along with Ty Dillon who also crashed in practice.

Now Kyle Larson hits the wall in practice and qualifying!

📺 : NBC Sports App#NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mZL3AZCySO
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 7, 2023

Playoff contenders Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney also made contact with the wall in practice, but neither suffered major damage. Bell, the defending Roval winner, will start from the outside pole while Blaney will start 17th after winning last week at Talladega.