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Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Jim Utter

Bell beats Larson for NASCAR Cup pole at Las Vegas

Bell, the last of the 10 cars to make a qualifying attempt in the final round on Saturday, just edged Kyle Larson with an average lap speed of 186.271 mph.

The pole is the sixth of the season for Bell, with four of them now coming in the playoffs. However, he has yet to be able to translate one of them into a victory.

A win for Bell in Sunday’s race would lock him into the Championship 4 at Phoenix in two weeks for the second consecutive season.

“It was flat-lined – I never lifted all the way around,” Bell said of his lap. “I think he didn’t either, so it comes down to horsepower I guess. This TRD Camry had plenty of horsepower. I’m glad to put this car back on the pole.

“It changes a lot (during the race). We saw during practice there was a lot of grip to take off and then it started losing grip as the run went on. It’s going to be about who can keep the most in their car over the period of the run and move around and find it on the race track.

“Las Vegas is a fun track because you can pretty much run from the wall to the white line and everywhere in between.”

Larson ended up second quick at 186.271 mph while series leader William Byron was third. Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Ross Chastain.

In all, six of the remaining eight playoff drivers qualified in the top-10.

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph
1 United StatesC. BELLJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 1 28.980   186.335
2 United StatesK. LARSONHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 1 +0.010 0.010 186.271
3 United StatesW. BYRONHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 1 +0.024 0.014 186.181
4 United StatesM. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1 +0.090 0.066 185.759
5 United StatesC. BUESCHERRFK Racing 17 Ford 1 +0.104 0.014 185.669
6 United StatesK. BUSCHRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 1 +0.113 0.009 185.612
7 United StatesB. WALLACE23XI Racing 23 Toyota 1 +0.140 0.027 185.440
8 United StatesT. REDDICK23XI Racing 45 Toyota 1 +0.149 0.009 185.382
9 United StatesJ. LOGANOTeam Penske 22 Ford 1 +0.167 0.018 185.268
10 United StatesR. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1 +0.183 0.016 185.166

Round 1 / Group A

Larson bolted to the top of the first group with an average lap speed of 186.438 mph.

Busch ended up second fastest at 185.109 mph while Wallace was third at 185.109 mph.

Truex and Reddick also advanced to the final round of qualifying.

“If we can get that better, we’ll be able to improve a few spots,” Truex said. “Definitely got to hit the right marks and try to hold it wide open.”

Among those who failed to move on from Group A were Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski.

Chase Elliott, who wrecked in practice, did not participate in qualifying.

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph
1 United StatesK. LARSONHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 1 28.964   186.438
2 United StatesB. WALLACE23XI Racing 23 Toyota 1 +0.208 0.208 185.109
3 United StatesK. BUSCHRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 1 +0.208 0.000 185.109
4 United StatesM. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1 +0.225 0.017 185.001
5 United StatesT. REDDICK23XI Racing 45 Toyota 1 +0.246 0.021 184.868
6 United StatesA. BOWMANHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 1 +0.274 0.028 184.691
7 United StatesA. DILLONRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 1 +0.298 0.024 184.540
8 United StatesA. CINDRICTeam Penske 2 Ford 1 +0.353 0.055 184.193
9 United StatesB. KESELOWSKIRFK Racing 6 Ford 1 +0.382 0.029 184.011
10 United StatesA. ALLMENDINGERKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 1 +0.393 0.011 183.943
11 United StatesE. JONESLegacy Motor Club 43 Chevrolet 1 +0.432 0.039 183.698
12
C. HOCEVARLegacy Motor Club
42 Chevrolet 1 +0.497 0.065 183.293
13 United StatesC. LAJOIESpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 1 +0.663 0.166 182.266
14 United StatesT. GILLILANDFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 1 +0.735 0.072 181.824
15 United StatesR. STENHOUSE JRJTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 1 +0.753 0.018 181.714
16 United StatesH. BURTONWood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 1 +1.067 0.314 179.814
17 United StatesB. POOLERick Ware Racing 15 Ford 1 +1.228 0.161 178.855
18 United StatesC. ELLIOTTHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 0  

Round 1 / Group B

Bell, who has been among the top performing qualifiers in the playoffs, led the way with an average lap speed of 186.606 mph – the fastest lap of the day at the time.

Byron was second quick at 186.593 mph while Buescher was third at 186.175 mph.

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying from Group B were Chastain and Logano.

Among those who failed to move on were Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

Daniel Suarez, who also wrecked in practice, did not participate in the qualifying session.

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph
1 United StatesC. BELLJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 1 28.938   186.606
2 United StatesW. BYRONHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 1 +0.002 0.002 186.593
3 United StatesC. BUESCHERRFK Racing 17 Ford 1 +0.067 0.065 186.175
4 United StatesR. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1 +0.076 0.009 186.117
5 United StatesJ. LOGANOTeam Penske 22 Ford 1 +0.084 0.008 186.066
6
T. GIBBSJoe Gibbs Racing
54 Toyota 1 +0.091 0.007 186.021
7 United StatesR. BLANEYTeam Penske 12 Ford 1 +0.219 0.128 185.204
8 United StatesA. ALMIROLAStewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 1 +0.276 0.057 184.843
9 United StatesD. HAMLINJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 1 +0.307 0.031 184.647
10 United StatesC. BRISCOEStewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 1 +0.355 0.048 184.344
11 United StatesM. MCDOWELLFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 1 +0.360 0.005 184.313
12 United StatesJ. HALEYKaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 1 +0.389 0.029 184.131
13 United StatesK. HARVICKStewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 1 +0.472 0.083 183.611
14 United StatesJ. YELEYRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 1 +0.537 0.065 183.206
15 United StatesT. DILLONSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 1 +0.601 0.064 182.809
16 United StatesB. MCLEODLive Fast Motorsports 78 Chevrolet 1 +0.937 0.336 180.753
17 United StatesR. PREECEStewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 1 +1.053 0.116 180.054
18 MexicoD. SUAREZTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 0
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