07/25/26 03:01:00
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07/25 15:00 CDT Carson Hocevar uses late qualifying run to bump his way into
top starting spot for the Brickyard 400
Carson Hocevar uses late qualifying run to bump his way into top starting spot
for the Brickyard 400
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Carson Hocevar used a late qualifying run to knock Ty
Reddick out of the No. 1 spot, then survived a late charge from Daniel Suarez
to capture his first Brickyard 400 pole Saturday.
Hocevar, who drives for Spire Motorsports, produced a fast lap of 186.598 mph.
Suarez, his teammate, soon followed with a lap of 186.382 to give Chevrolet the
top two starting spots on the 39-car starting grid. Reddick will start third in
Sunday's race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.
For Hocevar, it was another magical moment.
"I haven't won anything at Indy, even was looking at like a marathon or
something just so I can get an award here --- it doesn't matter what," Hocevar
said. "It's just really cool to get something here. I look out to the back
stretch, behind this media center and there's a parking lot with a bunch of
rubber and that's where I grew up racing."
The 23-year-old Hocevar has now won three career poles --- the other two at
Texas with one coming earlier this year. The Michigan native has one career
victory, in April at Talladega, in his third full season on the NASCAR circuit.
He finished 12th and 10th the last two years, his only previous Brickyard
starts.
Reddick had Michael Jordan's 23XI team on top of the speed charts for most of
the afternoon with a lap of 186.077 one day after he told reporters his car
performed so poorly in practice it felt like he "had never raced here before."
How important is qualifying at Indy?
"It's going to be a lot of it," said Reddick, who won the 2022 Brickyard on
Indy's road course and is trying to become the first driver to win on both
courses. "We have seen, though, last year, right, Denny (Hamlin) had his issue
in qualifying and still had a strong day, so it's possible. But you set
yourself up for more track position, more stage points with clean execution on
the weekend."
Hocevar, Suarez and Reddick were the only drivers to top 186 mph on an
unusually cool, overcast afternoon that produced significantly higher speeds
than in Friday's lone practice session.
Sunday's race could take place in much different conditions with temperatures
expected to rise.
Defending champion Bubba Wallace, who also races for Jordan's team, will start
29th after going 183.861. Hamlin, who has won three of NASCAR's four crown
jewel races, starts fifth as he tries to capture his first Brickyard title with
Joe Gibbs Racing.
And Ryan Blaney got an early edge on Todd Gilliland as the two finalists chase
the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize. Blaney is starting 13th while
Gilliland qualified 36th.
But Hocevar hopes to cash in, too, as he leads the field across the Yard of
Bricks to start the race.
"Hopefully that can get us a good advantage," Hocevar said. "The prestige of
this place raises everybody's intensity, so you know everybody's trying a
little bit more because they know how much it means to everybody. So, yeah,
it's super important."
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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