Christopher Bell’s fast lap during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday made the Norman, Oklahoma native the record holder for most pole positions (four) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The art of qualifying around the 1½-mile D-shaped oval has become simple for Bell.

“It’s pretty simple, really takes a lot of commitment here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to qualify,” Bell said after winning the pole. “My team got their p’s and s’s right and we had a lot of grit and I held my foot down, then we won the pole.”

Now, Bell can set his sights on trying to capitalize on the starting spot to get his first win at the track.

Bell posted a qualifying time of 28.853 seconds (187.156 mph) to win the pole. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag at Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. The green flag is scheduled to fly just after 1 p.m.

Bell is seeking his first win at Las Vegas when he makes his 13th Cup Series start at the track. The 31-year-old has four top-five finishes in his last six starts at Las Vegas, including two second-place finishes and a third.

“It just makes me excited to come back here,” Bell said of his past close calls at LVMS in an earlier news conference Saturday before qualifying.

Since joining the Cup Series full-time in 2020, Bell has six top-10 finishes with an average finish of 15.8, but entered the weekend with an average starting spot of 10.2. Bell’s pole broke a tie with Joey Logano for the most poles at Las Vegas.

“It’s a really competitive track for my group and my team,” Bell said. “If we keep doing that, hopefully, one of these days, we’re going to get to victory lane. But it’s a great racetrack for me.”

Toyota shows speed

Saturday was a great day for Toyota. The manufacturer swept the top four qualifying spots with Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin starting second (29.003 seconds, 186.188) and Ty Gibbs starting third (29.063, 185.803).

Bubba Wallace qualified fourth (29.068, 185.771) and Kyle Larson, driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (29.103, 185.548) was the highest-qualifying non-Toyota.

Bell and Hamlin were the two fastest in an earlier Saturday practice session. Hamlin held the top spot as the final cars hit the track in qualifying.

Hamlin, who won the last Cup Series race at Las Vegas at the South Point 400 last Oct. 12, said this was one of the best Saturdays of practice and qualifying his team has had this season, but added after he finished his lap that he knew there was more to be desired on the track.

“All the Toyotas looked really strong. I got a good feel that I’m looking for in the car,” Hamlin said. “A great lap by Bell, an awesome (Turns) 3 and 4. We just barely missed the balance there in qualifying. I’m not sure if we would have enough to run that kind of speed. We’re built for (Sunday) and hopefully we get on the same role we did last time.”

‘Good thing we’re not racing today’

Bell and Hamlin crossed paths in the media center, with Bell telling Hamlin he needed to slow down, referencing how consistently fast Hamlin was in practice over a 10-lap run.

“(Hamlin) beat me in practice,” Bell said. “I won the one-lap race, but he was consistently faster than me over the course of the entire practice session. It’s a good thing we’re not racing (Saturday).”

Bell was nearly half-a-second faster than his practice time, which he said didn’t surprise him. But he was surprised by being over a tenth-of-a-second faster than the rest of the field.

“To beat the field by over a tenth is something that you don’t see very often,” Bell said. “That goes to my engineers, my crew chiefs, my mechanics, they executed really well.”

Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s for race time on Sunday, which could make it one of the hottest Las Vegas spring races in the track’s history. That could be to Bell’s benefit.

“I like it the slicker (the track) is, the more enjoyable it is to race these cars, the hotter and more uncomfortable inside the car,” Bell said. “The racing seems to benefit whenever it’s hot and slick outside. I like it.”

Riley Herbst was the fastest qualifier of the three Las Vegas natives in the field in 20th (29.363, 183.905). Kyle Busch qualified 24th (29.455, 183.331)) and Noah Gragson was 34th (30.059, 179.647).

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.

Up next

What: NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

TV: FS1

Favorite: Kyle Larson +450