Christopher Bell Collects Third Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell earned the pole position for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – his third pole of the year and third at the 1.5-mile Vegas high banks.

Saturday’s lap of 185.344 mph in the No. 20 JGR Toyota bested fellow NASCAR Cup Series Playoff driver Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota by a slight .013-second. It marks the 13^th career pole position for the 29-year old Bell, however a win Sunday would be his first victory from the top starting spot on the grid.

The second-place starter has won the last three Las Vegas races. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is the last driver to win at Vegas from pole position – in 2009.

“I feel really good, I feel really comfortable,’’ said Bell, who is currently ranked second to Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson in the championship as the three-race Round of 8 takes the green flag Sunday.

“In practice, I don’t think the pace showed what we had but inside the car I felt super, super comfortable so I know we’ll have a shot tomorrow.”

“I’ve been in this position many a time and haven’t won the race . …We’ve come close several times and this is a great race track for me so I’m really optimistic. I think we’ve got the car to do it.” 

Six of the eight Playoff cars advanced to the final round of qualifying including Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who will roll off fourth. Larson – who has won the last two races in Las Vegas – will start fifth, Hendrick’s William Byron and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who will start ninth and 10^threspectively.

Hendrick’s Alex Bowman,, who was eliminated from Playoff contention just last week, will start third. Spire Motorsports rookie Carson Hocevar will roll off sixth. Trackhouse Racing’ Ross Chastain (seventh) and JGR’s Ty Gibbs (eighth) were the other drivers to advance to the final qualifying round.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was one of only two Playoff drivers who did not make the final round of time trials and he will start his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18^th.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, had an incident during practice – hitting the wall after cutting a rear tire – and was forced to miss qualifying. He will put a back-up No. 12 Penske Ford on the grid, starting last in the 37-car field.

 “It’ll be a big challenge for multiple reasons, but I feel confident,’’ said Blaney, whose 11.4 average finish at Las Vegas is third best among the Playoff drivers.

“Hopefully, we can make our way through there.  We’ve got all race.  We might not be able to get stage points in the first one, but hopefully by the second one maybe we’ll get some stage points and then hopefully the speed is good enough to where we can run up towards the front.  Yeah, it sets us back a little bit, but this group is ready to go and they know the new task.  It’s gonna be a tall one tomorrow, but I’ve got faith we can make the most of it.”

Of note, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will start 29^th in the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota – the eighth start of the season for the team’s owner-driver. New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen will start 34^th in the Kaulig Racing No. 16 Chevrolet.