Christopher Bell wins pole for NASCAR Cup race in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Christopher Bell won the pole in Saturday qualifying for the opening race of the third round of NASCAR's playoffs.

Bell turned a lap at 185.344 mph in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to take the top starting spot for Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bell is one of eight drivers attempting to earn a spot in the Cup Series championship finale.

"I feel really good. I feel really comfortable," Bell said. "I know we're going to have a shot at it."

A win by any of the playoff drivers at Las Vegas on Sunday, or the next two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway or in Martinsville, Virginia, will earn an automatic berth in the finale. The fourth slot will go the highest-ranked driver in the Cup Series standings.

Tyler Reddick , the regular-season champion, qualified second in a Toyota for 23XI Racing. Alex Bowman , who lost his spot in the playoff field when his car failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Charlotte and he was disqualified, qualified fourth.

Denny Hamlin , teammate with Bell at JGR, qualified third as Toyotas took three of the top four qualifying positions.

Current points leader Kyle Larson , the defending race winner, was fifth as he and Bowman put a pair of Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports in the top five.

William Byron qualified seventh for Hendrick, while Joey Logano of Team Penske was 10th in a Ford. Logano was moved into the round of eight following Bowman's disqualification last week.

Chase Elliott was the slowest of all the playoff drivers with an 18th-place qualifying lap. But he's not the lowest starter of the title contenders: Reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney will start last after a crash early in his 20-minute practice session ended his Saturday.

The No. 12 Ford seemed to blow a tire and spun into the wall in a driver-side impact.

"I had no warning," he radioed his team. "I'm sorry."

Team Penske needed to start preparing a backup Ford that wasn't ready for qualifying. Plus, Blaney took a hard hit that made it sound as if his wind was knocked from him when his car slammed into the wall.

"Hard hit. But I live," Blaney said. "I'm all right, just blew a tire and it stinks. Shame it ended our practice early, we've got our work cut out for us. There's definitely a lot to overcome, starting from the back and no laps with this backup car."