Reddick Secures Pole Position for EchoPark Grand Prix at COTA

Tyler Reddick showcased his road course prowess during Saturday’s qualifying session for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), blistering the 2.4-mile National Course with a lap time of 98.076 seconds at an average speed of 88.095 mph. The impressive lap earned the Corning, Calif., native the coveted pole position for Sunday’s race.

Reddick’s achievement also highlighted a strong showing for his team, as teammate Bubba Wallace secured the second starting position, marking his best qualifying effort since Darlington last season. The result positions the two Toyota drivers on an all-Toyota front row for the highly anticipated event.

“All in all, it felt like it was hard for anybody today to have the perfect lap,” Reddick commented following his triumph. “We hit the right areas to put together a good lap. We were able to hang on to it throughout the whole session.”

This pole position marks Reddick’s tenth in his 185 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts and his second at the challenging COTA circuit. Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Reddick emphasized the critical role of tire management, a factor that contributed to his victory at the track in 2023.

“It’s a lot more than we’ve had here in the past,” he noted regarding tire falloff. “It really does go away and it goes away quick. That will be important tomorrow. Taking care of the tires, staying up front does help. We were not where we wanted to be in the first practice. The team worked really, really hard today to find some handling, find some speed.”

Wallace, who previously recorded a tenth-place start at COTA last season, playfully acknowledged his close proximity to Reddick during the qualifying laps. “He slowed me up, for sure,” Wallace joked. “I thought I slowed him up, just being that close. It all worked out – a good one-two start for our team.”

Rounding out the top five starting positions are Chase Elliott, the winner of the inaugural EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in 2021, Carson Hocevar, and Daniel Suarez. Road course specialists Shane vanGisbergen and AJ Allmendinger will start from the sixth and twelfth positions, respectively. Notably, 18-year-old Connor Zilisch, making his NCS debut this weekend, will start the race from the 14th position, adding an element of youthful excitement to the grid.