AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 28, 2026) – The early-season momentum behind Tyler Reddick showed no signs of slowing in Texas as the 23XI Racing driver secured the NASCAR Cup Series pole position in Saturday’s qualifying for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas.
Reddick, looking to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three Cup Series races in a season, put himself in perfect position by securing the pole for the second consecutive season with a lap of 88.380 miles per hour (97.76 seconds) on the 17-turn, 2.4 mile National Course. The pole is the 12th of his career and series-leading third at NASCAR at COTA, which includes the first of his Cup Series career in 2021 while with Richard Childress Racing.
Reddick, the 2023 NASCAR at COTA winner, will lead the 37-car field to the green flag for Sunday’s 95-lap DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT (TV: FOX, HBO Max; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM).
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, the 2022 NASCAR at COTA winner, will start alongside Reddick on the front row with his lap of 88.256 mph (97.897 secs.). It is his third top-10 start in six career starts at COTA, but first of this season.
The top five was represented by five different teams, with Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing qualifying third (88.242 mph, 97.913 secs.), Ryan Blaney of Team Penske fourth (88.179 mph, 97.982 secs.) and Chase Elliott, the 2021 race winner, of Hendrick Motorsports fifth (88.161 mph, 98.002 secs.).
It was a disappointing qualifying session for Trackhouse Racing’s noted road-racing stars Shane van Gisbergen and 19-year-old rookie Connor Zilisch. Van Gisbergen, who won five of the six road/street course races last season with the exception of COTA (6th), qualified 13th (87.748 mph, 98.464 secs.). Zilisch, who posted five NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series road course wins on last season including COTA, qualified 25th (87.365 mph, 98.895 secs.).
RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, who started the first two races of the season as he continues to recover from a broken right femur sustained in December, had his status up in the air for this weekend, but qualified 26th (87.346 mph, 98.917 secs.). Road-course specialist Joey Hand, a Ford reserve driver, will be available should Keselowski need a relief driver in Sunday’s race.
Defending race winner Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing qualified eighth (87.980 mph, 98.204 secs.) and will start in Row 4.
In IMSA action, Wyatt Brichacek of Toney Driver Development won from the pole in the P3 class of Saturday’s opening 45-minute timed race in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. Oscar Tunjo of Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. was second and Austin’s Danny Soufi of PINAXIS – ZONE 4 Racing took third. Westin Workman of RAFA Racing won the GSX class while Courtney Crone of CarBahn Motorsports was second and Tyler Hoffman with Jon Brel of Kingpin Racing finished third.
Up Next: Saturday’s on-track action also includes the Focused Health 250 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race (2 p.m., TV: CW; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM) along with the second of two 45-minute timed races in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (5:30 p.m., TV: Peacock). A recap of those races will be available later today. The weekend closes Sunday with the marquee event – the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne – beginning at 2 p.m. (TV: FOX, HBO max; Radio PRN, SiriusXM).
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