Christopher Bell drives during qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell won his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole position on Saturday and will lead the field in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 20 Toyota bested the 10 cars that advanced to second round qualifying at the 1.5-mile raceway with a lap of 182.673 mph.
Defending race winner Kyle Larson put his car on the outside of the front row after topping the speed chart in practice earlier Saturday morning. He was only .289-seconds off Bell’s pace – and the only other driver to top the 182-mph mark in the session.
That’s pretty cool,’’ said Bell, who is the second driver to score his first career pole position in 2022. “I feel really good about our DeWalt Camry. I knew our first run out (in practice) we were going to be pretty competitive.’’
Asked if the pole-win surprised him, Bell said, “Not really. All season our Camrys have had speed.’’
Now the Oklahoma native is hoping that speed translates into a better finish. He’s had tough luck in the season’s opening two races. He crashed out in the Daytona 500 and finished 24th and last weekend at California’s Auto Club Speedway, he had engine problems and finished 36th.
“You never know and nothing’s guaranteed,’’ Bell said. “But we’ve had a lot of speed and we’ve had promise and hopefully we start putting it together.
Austin Cindric was third quick, followed by Chase Briscoe in fourth and Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott in fifth.
Logano, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.
NASCAR Cup Series
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV
Pennzoil 400 – March 5, 2022
Sunday’s Starting Lineup
1. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 182.673 mph.
2. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 182.014 mph.
3. (2) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 181.794 mph.
4. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 181.733 mph.
5. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 181.720 mph.
6. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 181.348 mph.
7. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 181.202 mph.
8. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 181.196 mph.
9. (47) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 179.760 mph.
10. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 179.724 mph.
11. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 0.000 mph.
12. (19) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 0.000 mph.
13. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
14. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
15. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.
16. (16) Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
17. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
18. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
19. (21) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 0.000 mph.
20. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 0.000 mph.
21. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
22. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 0.000 mph.
23. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
24. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, 0.000 mph.
25. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 0.000 mph.
26. (44) Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
27. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 0.000 mph.
28. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
29. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
30. (38) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 0.000 mph.
31. (45) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
32. (42) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
33. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 0.000 mph.
34. (77) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
35. (78) B.J. McLeod, Ford, 0.000 mph.
36. (15) Garrett Smithley, Ford, 0.000 mph.
37. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
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