'Track position is incredibly important': Daniel Suarez wins pole for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard

INDIANAPOLIS -- Daniel Suarez won the third pole of his career Saturday for the NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beating out Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliot for the top position.

"Track position is incredibly important (at IMS), you have to get it anytime you can," Suarez said. "I knew that Saturday was going to be extremely important for this race, and I'm glad that we were able to show up with a balanced racecar."

Suarez made his way into the Fast 10 with a time of 1:28.386 — sixth in the field after the first round of qualifying. Michael McDowell ran the fastest going into the Fast 10 qualifying with a time of 1:27.909.

But the Trackhouse Racing driver had his time to shine in the second round. He ran a 1:27.968, a 99.814 mph average, in the second round in the No. 99 Chevy, eclipsing Reddick's No. 45 Toyota, who finished second with a time of 1:28.113, by .299 seconds.

This is Suarez's first pole since Kentucky in 2019, and his first since he joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021.

"The energy has been great, the guys have been working very hard, and it shows," Suarez said. "We have to continue to work and execute tomorrow."

Reddick, the other car in the front row for the Verizon 200, ran a final qualifying lap as the Fast 10 period was ending. But with old tires, his attempt proved futile.

"I think we definitely could contend with Daniel today but just made too many mistakes," Reddick told PRN following qualifying. "Ultimately just burned the tires up having to re-run a few times."

NASCAR will run the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on the IMS road course, a 14-turn, 2.439-mile course, on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Check out the full qualifying order here (including car number, driver, engine, lap time, mph):

VERIZON 200 QUALIFYING ORDER

99. Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 1 minute, 27.968 seconds, 99.814 mph

45. Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 1:28.113, 99.649

9. Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 1:28.335, 99.399

34. Michael McDowell, Ford, 1:28.434, 99.288

8. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 1:28.496, 99.218

5. Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 1:28.499, 99.215

20. Christopher Bell, Toyota, 1:28.516, 99.196

91. Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 1:28.544, 99.164

48. Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 1:28.606, 99.095

(tie) 54. Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 1:28.606, 99.095

These drivers did not make the second round of qualifying:

33. Brodie Kostecki, Chevrolet, 1:28.495, 99.219

19, Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 1:28.533, 99.177

14. Chase Briscoe, Ford, 1:28.539, 99.100

7. Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 1:28.656, 99.039

31. Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 1:28.669, 99.024

12. Ryan Blaney, Ford, 1:28.764, 98.918

17. Chris Buescher, Ford, 1:28.839, 98.835

22. Joey Logano, Ford, 1:28.855, 98.817

23. Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 1:28.924, 98.740

2. Austin Cindric, Ford, 1:28.939, 98.724

1. Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 1:28.947, 98.715

6. Brad Keselowski, Ford, 128.953, 98.708

38. Todd Gilliland, Ford, 1:28.962, 98.698

21. Harrison Burton, Ford, 1:28.661, 98.661

11. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 1:29.005, 98.651

16. A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 1:29.065, 98.584

3, Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 1:29.068, 98.581

67. Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota, 129.077, 98.571

51. Andy Lally, Ford, 1:29.119, 98.524

41. Ryan Preece, Ford, 1:29.203, 98.432

15. Jenson Button, Ford, 1:29.269, 98.359

78. Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 1:29.400, 98.215

10. Aric Almirola, Ford, 1:29.537, 98.064

47. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 1:29.694, 97.893

77. Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 1:29.762, 97.819

43. Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 129.789, 97.789

42. Mike Rockenfeller, Chevrolet, 1:29.819, 97.757

4. Kevin Harvick, Ford, 1:29.820, 97.756

24. William Byron, Chevrolet, no time

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Daniel Suarez wins pole for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway