Christopher Bell Scores Pole at Las Vegas; Six Playoff Drivers in Top 10
Christopher Bell has done it again. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE will start from the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the third time in his NASCAR Cup Series career after he cranked out a lightning-quick 29.135 second (185.344 mph) lap time in the final round of Saturday's qualifying session for the South Point 400.
RELATED: Starting Lineup NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas
Bell, who finished second in this race a season ago, really likes his race car for Sunday's event.
"I feel really good," Bell said about his No. 20 car. "I feel really comfortable, in practice, I don't think the pace showed what we had, but inside the car, I felt super, super comfortable, so I know that we're going to have a shot at it tomorrow."
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 contender will now look check off a couple of achievements that he's never realized before -- win from the pole position, and win at the 1.5-mile speedway in Sin City.
"I have been in this position many of times, and obviously, I've never won from the pole, yet," Bell said when asked if his pole-winning run made a statement. "Still waiting to do that, so, maybe tomorrow will be the day."
Bell's strong run in qualifying will set him up for a solid run in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 opening race, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver seeks his third-consecutive appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4. However, Bell didn't gap the competition by much as a total of six Playoff contenders secured top-10 starting spots for Sunday's race.
Regular season champion and Bell's fellow Playoff contender, Tyler Reddick will start from alongside the driver of the No. 20 in the No. 45 Jordan Brand 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE. Reddick looked to have the car to beat throughout the day on Saturday as he paced practice and the opening round of Saturday's qualifying session. Reddick would come up just shy of capping off a perfect day in Vegas as he fell short of the pole position by just 0.013 seconds.
Alex Bowman, who suffered a heartbreaking exit from the Playoff field last weekend following a post-race disqualification at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, was the top non-Playoff contender in qualifying this weekend and he'll start the South Point 400 from the third position while looking to avenge last week's misfortune.
Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Kyle Larson (fifth) rounded out the top-five qualifiers in the field to stake claim to four of the top-five starting spots for NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders.
Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs will look to play Playoff spoiler this weekend as they will roll from positions six through eight on the starting grid.
Playoff contenders William Byron, in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and Joey Logano, in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will start from the final two positions inside the top-10 in the South Point 400.
With six Playoff contenders inside the top-10 starting spots, that means only two Round of 8 Playoff drivers failed to nab solid starting spots for the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott was one of them as he will start 18th in Sunday's race in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Ryan Blaney, the defending series champion, will be the worst starting of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders on Sunday as he will begin the day from the 37th position, the final spot on the starting grid. Blaney will move to a backup car for Sunday's race after suffering a crash on his second lap of NASCAR Cup Series practice on Saturday.
Blaney was lucky to walk away from the crash uninjured after he slammed driver's side first into the outside SAFER barrier following a cut left rear tire heading into Turn 1 in the session.
"Yeah, I'm alright," Blaney said in his post-care center interview on the USA Network broadcast. "Just blew a tire into Turn 1, and it just stinks. I didn't feel anything odd down the frontstretch. And just it's a shame, it ended our practice early."
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.