Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, landed at the top of the leaderboard in NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) qualifying Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). Bell will start on the pole for Sunday’s South Point 400 NCS race after laying down a qualifying lap of 29.135 seconds (185.344 mph).
“I felt really good in practice, and that means more than what you qualify,” Bell said. “Kansas, here and Charlotte are all very similar racetracks and places that we performed really well at, so certainly excited about this. The guy who wins this race is gonna be walking out of here feeling pretty good.”
Joining Bell on the front row will be Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, who qualified P2 with a lap time of 29.148 seconds (185.261 mph) after being fastest in practice with a 29.478-second lap time (183.187 mph). Las Vegas natives Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, and Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, will start 20th and 21st respectively. Current NCS points leader and defending South Point 400 race winner Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, also won at LVMS earlier this season and will start fifth on Sunday.
Today’s on-track action continues with the Ambetter Health 302 NASCAR Xfinity Seriesn (NXS) race at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN and SiriusXM. Race weekend will conclude Sunday with the South Point 400 NCS race at 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM. This weekend’s races serve as the first in the Round of 8 for both the NCS and NXS Playoffs.
For tickets or more information on the South Point 400, visit www.lvms.com or call 1-800-644-4444. Weekend and single-day tickets are still available; race-day tickets for kids 12 and under are just $10 and free on Saturday with the advance purchase of an adult ticket.
