Bell wins pole for opening race of 3rd round of NASCAR playoffs

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Christopher Bell won the pole in Saturday qualifying for the opening race of the third round of NASCAR's playoffs.

Bell turned a lap at 185.344 mph in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to take the top starting spot Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bell is one of eight drivers attempting to earn a spot in the Cup Series championship finale.

“I feel really good. I feel really comfortable,” Bell said. “I know we’re going to have a shot at it.”

A win by any of the playoff drivers at Las Vegas on Sunday, or the next two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway or in Martinsville, Virginia, will earn an automatic berth in the finale. The fourth slot will go the highest ranked driver in the Cup Series standings.

Tyler Reddick, the regular season champion, qualified second in a Toyota for 23XI Racing. Alex Bowman, who lost his spot in the playoff field when his car failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Charlotte and he was disqualified, qualified fourth.

Denny Hamlin, teammate with Bell at JGR, qualified third as Toyotas took three of the top four qualifying positions.

Current points leader Kyle Larson, the defending race winner, was fifth as he and Bowman put a pair of Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports in the top-five.

William Byron qualified seventh for Hendrick, while Joey Logano of Team Penske was 10th in a Ford. Logano was moved into the round of eight following Bowman's disqualification last week.

Chase Elliott was the slowest of all the playoff drivers with an 18th-place qualifying lap. But he's not the lowest starter of the title contenders: Reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney will start last after a crash early in his 20-minute practice session ended his Saturday.

The No. 12 Ford seemed to blow a tire and spun into the wall in a driver-side impact.

“I had no warning,” he radioed his team. “I'm sorry.”

Team Penske needed to start preparing a backup Ford that wasn't ready for qualifying. Plus, Blaney took a hard hit that made it sound as if his wind was knocked from him when his car slammed into the wall.

“Hard hit. But I live,” Blaney said. “I'm all right, just blew a tire and it stinks. Shame it ended our practice early, we've got our work cut out for us. There's definitely a lot to overcome, starting from the back and no laps with this backup car.”

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