Bell Secures Top Starting Position for Vegas NASCAR Race

Christopher Bell earned the pole position for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 187.156 mph. Toyota drivers claimed the top four starting positions, marking the seventh time in the manufacturer's NASCAR Cup Series history they've swept those spots.

Christopher Bell secured the top starting position for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after posting a lightning-fast qualifying speed of 187.156 mph during Saturday’s time trials.

The driver completed his run around the 1.5-mile track in 28.853 seconds, edging out Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who qualified second with a speed of 186.188 mph. Bell’s margin of victory was 0.150 seconds.

This marks Bell’s first pole award of the current season, his fourth at the Las Vegas venue, and the 15th pole position of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Toyota dominated qualifying as Ty Gibbs from JGR earned the third starting spot with a speed of 185.803 mph, while 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace claimed fourth at 185.771 mph. This represents only the seventh time Toyota has captured the top four qualifying positions in NASCAR Cup Series competition, with their last such performance occurring at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2023.

Las Vegas has been particularly favorable for Toyota recently, as this marks the second consecutive race at the track where Toyota drivers have locked up the first three starting positions. Last fall, Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Bell accomplished that feat.

“It was pretty simple, really,” Bell explained regarding his pole-winning performance. “It takes a lot of commitment here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to qualify well. My team got their Ps and Qs right. We had a lot of grip, and I held my foot down, and we won the pole.”

Bell’s machine handled the challenging Turn 1 surface irregularities better than many competitors, which proved crucial to his success.

“It’s a compromise,” Bell noted about the track’s unique challenges. “Every time you come to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s a compromise of getting your car to have as much grip as you can have in (Turns) 3 and 4 without the bump hindering you in (Turns) 1 and 2.”

“Anytime you make the car drive better across the bumps, you’re giving up performance on the smooth part of the race track, and my team nailed it,” he added.

Current series champion Kyle Larson qualified fifth at 185.548 mph, leading all Chevrolet entries. Phoenix race winner Ryan Blaney captured sixth position at 185.185 mph as the fastest Ford qualifier.

Points leader Tyler Reddick, who has won the season’s first three races, will begin Sunday’s race from seventh position. Ryan Preece, William Byron, and Chris Buescher round out the top ten starting positions.

Last year’s Las Vegas race winner Josh Berry struggled in qualifying, earning only the 32nd starting position in his Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

Bell has shown strong performance when starting from the pole, finishing in the top ten in his last seven pole-winning races. His previous two pole positions at Las Vegas in 2023 and 2024 both resulted in runner-up finishes.