Playoff contender Christopher Bell earned his third pole of the 2024 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400 with a fastest lap of 185.344 mph on Saturday (Oct. 19).
Bell contended for the win in the same race against Kyle Larson, coming up just short of defeating the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won back-to-back poles at the fall Las Vegas race.
Bell earned his 13th pole of his Cup Series career. The Norman, Okla. native has yet to win from the pole in his premier series career.
Fellow Toyota and playoff driver Tyler Reddick shared the front row with Bell, the 23XI driver getting edged out with a speed of 185.261 mph. Reddick finished second to Larson in the spring race, in similar fashion to Bell.
Alex Bowman was the fastest Chevrolet for HMS, qualifying third. The 2022 spring winner at Las Vegas was disqualified from the playoffs after last week’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, after his No. 48 Chevrolet failed to meet minimum weight requirements. Bowman was the fastest of the non-playoff drivers.
Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin qualified fourth, and the three-time winner at Las Vegas Larson completed the top five.
Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, William Byron and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.
Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney crashed during the early stages of Group B practice after his left-rear tire went flat in turn 1, impacting the driver’s side of the Team Penske No. 12 Ford.
“I had no warning,” Blaney said over the radio. “My head hurts.”
Blaney was checked and released from the infield care center. He did not make a qualifying lap, relegating him to last. Blaney will go to his backup car.
Only 37 drivers entered the second and final race of the season at Las Vegas, three short of the maximum 40. Therefore, all entered teams qualified for the race.
The Round of 8 will begin tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET with broadcasting provided by NBC.
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