Tyler Reddick wins NASCAR Cup Series pole at Las Vegas

Tyler Reddick, racing outside the playoffs and set to move to a new team next season, scored a minor upset Saturday by winning the pole for Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Reddick turned a lap at 184.603 mph to win the first starting spot for Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC) race. Reddick was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and is in his final few races for Richard Childress Racing before moving to 23XI Racing next season.

“We were a bit off in practice,” Reddick told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “We went to work. We made some fantastic adjustments going into qualifying and got the car a lot closer.”

The pole is Reddick’s third of the season.

He’ll start alongside Austin Cindric, who also failed to reach the playoffs’ Round of 8.

Following in the top five were William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano — all playoff drivers.

Sunday’s race is the first in the round. If any of the eight playoff drivers win, he will automatically advance to the Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway.

The first race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8 will have a starting front row of non-playoff drivers.

Tyler Reddick won the pole for Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) Saturday and will start alongside Austin Cindric. Reddick and Cindric started the playoffs among the contenders but failed to make the Round of 8.

William Byron, in third, was the top qualifying driver among the eight still competing for the championship. Other playoff drivers and their starting spots: Ryan Blaney, fourth; Joey Logano, fifth; Christopher Bell, seventh; Ross Chastain, 11th; Chase Briscoe, 16th; Chase Elliott, 20th; and Denny Hamlin, 31st. It will be Hamlin’s worst start on a paved track this season.

Elliott leads