Bell makes his mark with Round of 8 opener pole in Las Vegas

Christopher Bell will lead the field to the green flag Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to begin the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Bell earned the pole – his second at Las Vegas – with a lap of 186.335mph (28.980s) in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He was the final driver to record a lap in qualifying and bumped Kyle Larson from the top spot.

Larson will start second with a lap of 186.271mph.

Sunday now marks the 499th national series pole for Toyota in NASCAR. A Toyota driver has started on the pole in six of the seven Cup Series playoff races (Aric Almirola, Ford, won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway). It's also Bell’s 10th career pole in the Cup Series, with six coming this season.

William Byron will start third (186.181mph), Martin Truex Jr. fourth (185.759mph), Chris Buescher fifth (185.669mph), Kyle Busch sixth (185.612mph) and Bubba Wallace seventh (185.440mph).

Tyler Reddick wound up eighth (185.382mph) and Joey Logano, the defending race winner, will start ninth (185.268mph). Ross Chastain completed the top 10 (185.166mph).

Ryan Blaney will start 12th (185.204mph) and Denny Hamlin will start 15th (184.647mph). They were the only two playoff drivers to qualify outside the top 10.

Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez did not record a qualifying lap. Both drivers crashed during practice and are going to backup cars. They will start Sunday’s race at the rear of the field.

STARTING LINEUP