Reddick claims Brickyard 400 pole on final run
INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Reddick watched Brickyard 400 qualifying Saturday with a skeptical eye.
He saw drivers routinely missing their marks on the first turn and struggling on the fourth turn, and he even witnessed one veteran, Austin Cindric, hit the wall.
So when Reddick encountered his own obstacles, the 28-year-old remained calm, adapted deftly and took advantage of the final run of the day to capture his first Brickyard 400 pole.
Reddick completed the 2.5-mile oval in 49.469 seconds, barely knocking points leader Chase Elliott out of the No. 1 starting spot. Elliott was clocked in 49.504 and will start just behind Reddick in the No. 3 spot, creating an intriguing clash between two of the top three in Cup standings.
“I knew I needed to run like a 49.50 — I didn’t know what Chase’s exact time was, but I knew that was our target,” Reddick said after claiming his eighth career pole. “I knew I missed the turn pretty bad, and I knew I was going to have to hit it perfect for the remainder or the lap and thankfully we did.”
For Reddick, it has been a perfect start to one of the season’s most anticipated weekends as the Cup race returns to the oval after spending the past three years on Indy’s road course.
Should things go as Reddick hopes Sunday, he could set off an even grander celebration for the No. 45 Toyota team. Reddick won the 2022 Brickyard 200 on Indy’s 14-turn road course, and no Cup driver has won on both tracks — yet.
A Reddick victory also could bump Elliott out of the lead as NASCAR takes its two-week Olympic break. Elliott leads Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson by three points, Reddick by 15.
“We know that a lot of the guys that are right there in the points are right there behind us, making overnight adjustments and doing what they need to do,” Reddick said. “So we have to be mindful of all the potentials around us tomorrow.”
The lineup around Reddick certainly is stacked.
Reddick’s team owner, Denny Hamlin, begins on the outside of Row 1 in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota. Elliott, Larson and a third Hendrick driver, William Byron, hold the next three starting positions. Those are the top five drivers in points.
Larson is starting his second race on Indy’s oval this season, having qualified fifth at the Indianapolis 500.
And all of it happens on a day when NASCAR’s winningest owner, Rick Hendrick, leads the field to the green flag — in the pace car.
But when Hendrick pulls off the track, Reddick will take the cars across the yards of bricks for the first lap, setting up a dream scenario as he chases his second win of the season.
“It’s just really cool,” Reddick said. “I’ve always been on the other end of this. It’s nice to be on the inside for once. It’s a big deal for us.”
New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton will miss the remainder of the regular season and “possibly” the playoffs due to a lower-body injury, general manager Tom Fitzgerald said.
When pressed if Hamilton could return if the Devils reach the second round of the postseason, Fitzgerald wasn’t too optimistic on Wednesday.
“We’re not planning on it, how’s that?” Fitzgerald said during an appearance on the “Krackin’ Canuckleheads” podcast.
Hamilton has been sidelined since he was tangled up with Stars forward Mason Marchment in the first period of a 4-3 loss to Dallas on March 4.
Hamilton, 31, has 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) in 63 games this season. He is competing in the fourth campaign of his seven-year, $63 million contract.
Hamilton has totaled 501 points (151 goals, 350 assists) in 834 career games with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and Devils.
Hamilton was selected by the Bruins with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 NHL draft.
Rafael Devers told reporters Thursday that he’s “good to do whatever” the Boston Red Sox want him to do, an indication that he’s willing to move away from third base and serve as the team’s designated hitter this season.
A switch of roles didn’t seem likely last month, when Devers balked at the idea at moving to DH in the wake of Boston signing Alex Bregman.
“Third base is my position,” Devers said then.
But the three-time All-Star said Thursday that he spoke with manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow a few weeks ago and told them “I’m good to do whatever they want me to do.
“I’m here to help,” he said through his interpreter, according to The Athletic. “I’ve already spoken with them about that and they know where I stand, but I’m just ready to play.
“I’m not going to share what we talked about here just because it would make me come off … those are private conversations. So I told them everything of my point of view, how I see things, and they know that.”
Devers has yet to appear in an official spring training game for Boston. It was supposed to happen Tuesday but got pushed back to this weekend. He battled soreness in both of his shoulders last season and spent the first couple of weeks of spring training trying to strengthen them ahead of the regular season.
He did play in an intrasquad game Thursday in Fort Myers, Florida, before he spoke with the media, and had a home run off new Red Sox starter Walker Buehler.
Asked if he expects to be ready for Opening Day against the Rangers on March 27 in Texas, Devers said: “I expect to be there.”
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