Christopher Bell tops Larson for Cup Series pole at Las Vegas

Bell held on in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying to post the fastest average speed (182.673 mph) among the 10 cars.

“I feel really good about (our car), that’s for sure,” said Bell, who has failed to finish the first two races of the 2022 season. “In practice, it took probably two runs to get the balance to where I was comfortable but I knew first run out that we were pretty competitive.

“Really happy where we’re at. I love Las Vegas. I wish it was going to be a little bit warmer so we could slide around a little bit more but Vegas always puts on a great race.”

Last weekend’s race winner at Fontana, Kyle Larson, ended up second (182.014 mph) and Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric was third (181.794 mph). Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 starters in Sunday’s race: Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon.

Round 1 / Group B

Larson, who was fastest in practice, had the fastest average lap speed (182.352 mph) in the second group of qualifying.

Briscoe was third (181.238 mph) and Cindric was third (181.214 mph). Also advancing to the second round were Hamlin and Logano.

Among those failing to advance to Round 2 were Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman.

Kyle Busch did not make a qualifying attempt as his team was still working on his backup car following his wreck in practice. Busch will have to start the race from the rear of the field.