It’s a Toyota lockout of the first two rows with Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3 in Las Vegas NASCAR Cup qualifying.
Christopher Bell rocketed to the top of the charts and was the only driver to break into the 28-second bracket. Four of Bell’s 15 career poles have happened in Vegas, with the other three taking place in 2022 (first career pole in the Cup Series), 2023, and 2024.
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“Our Interstate Batteries Camry feels very nice,” said Bell with a smile after qualifying. “I’ve talked about this a lot through the last couple of races, but just super, super proud of my team. We’re finally getting back to where we need to be and it feels good. We used to be able to qualify really well on these intermediates, and then, I don’t know, it feels we fell a little bit off and now we got it back My engineers, crew chief, my mechanics, my pit crew — everybody has been doing such a good job in 2026. It’s so fun to drive this #20 car, and I’m excited about tomorrow.”
He bested teammate Denny Hamlin by a full 0.150s, with the two of them followed by Ty Gibbs in third, who is coming off of back-to-back top five finishes. Bubba Wallace completed the Toyota quartet in fourth, while Kyle Larson led the Chevrolets in fifth.
Ryan Blaney was the top-qualifying Ford driver in sixth, followed by championship leader Tyler Reddick in seventh, Ryan Preece eighth, William Byron ninth, and Chris Buescher tenth.
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There were no incidents during the session, and all cars managed to record a time. Ty Dillon was the slowest of all, but he also didn’t have any practice as he was one of four drivers whose cars struggled to get through inspection, earlier in the day.
Photos from Las Vegas – Practice & Qualifying
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club
John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
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Joey Logano, Team Penske
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
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Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
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Las Vegas NASCAR Cup starting lineup
|
1 |
20 |
Christopher Bell |
Toyota |
28.853 |
|
187.156 |
|
2 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
29.003 |
0.150 |
186.188 |
|
3 |
54 |
Ty Gibbs |
Toyota |
29.063 |
0.210 |
185.803 |
|
4 |
23 |
Darrell Wallace Jr |
Toyota |
29.068 |
0.215 |
185.771 |
|
5 |
5 |
Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet |
29.103 |
0.250 |
185.548 |
|
6 |
12 |
Ryan Blaney |
Ford |
29.160 |
0.307 |
185.185 |
|
7 |
45 |
Tyler Reddick |
Toyota |
29.168 |
0.315 |
185.134 |
|
8 |
60 |
Ryan Preece |
Ford |
29.205 |
0.352 |
184.900 |
|
9 |
24 |
William Byron |
Chevrolet |
29.217 |
0.364 |
184.824 |
|
10 |
17 |
Chris Buescher |
Ford |
29.245 |
0.392 |
184.647 |
|
11 |
3 |
Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet |
29.250 |
0.397 |
184.615 |
|
12 |
38 |
Zane Smith |
Ford |
29.252 |
0.399 |
184.603 |
|
13 |
7 |
Daniel Suarez |
Chevrolet |
29.279 |
0.426 |
184.433 |
|
14 |
43 |
Erik Jones |
Toyota |
29.285 |
0.432 |
184.395 |
|
15 |
9 |
Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet |
29.289 |
0.436 |
184.370 |
|
16 |
97 |
Shane van Gisbergen |
Chevrolet |
29.294 |
0.441 |
184.338 |
|
17 |
1 |
Ross Chastain |
Chevrolet |
29.338 |
0.485 |
184.062 |
|
18 |
19 |
Chase Briscoe |
Toyota |
29.343 |
0.490 |
184.030 |
|
19 |
77 |
Carson Hocevar |
Chevrolet |
29.356 |
0.503 |
183.949 |
|
20 |
35 |
Riley Herbst |
Toyota |
29.363 |
0.510 |
183.905 |
|
21 |
48 |
Justin Allgaier |
Chevrolet |
29.376 |
0.523 |
183.824 |
|
22 |
22 |
Joey Logano |
Ford |
29.376 |
0.523 |
183.824 |
|
23 |
47 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
Chevrolet |
29.387 |
0.534 |
183.755 |
|
24 |
8 |
Kyle Busch |
Chevrolet |
29.455 |
0.602 |
183.331 |
|
25 |
88 |
Connor Zilisch |
Chevrolet |
29.478 |
0.625 |
183.187 |
|
26 |
42 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
Toyota |
29.493 |
0.640 |
183.094 |
|
27 |
34 |
Todd Gilliland |
Ford |
29.493 |
0.640 |
183.094 |
|
28 |
6 |
Brad Keselowski |
Ford |
29.504 |
0.651 |
183.026 |
|
29 |
16 |
AJ Allmendinger |
Chevrolet |
29.530 |
0.677 |
182.865 |
|
30 |
71 |
Michael McDowell |
Chevrolet |
29.652 |
0.799 |
182.113 |
|
31 |
2 |
Austin Cindric |
Ford |
29.690 |
0.837 |
181.879 |
|
32 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
Ford |
29.745 |
0.892 |
181.543 |
|
33 |
51 |
Cody Ware |
Chevrolet |
29.770 |
0.917 |
181.391 |
|
34 |
4 |
Noah Gragson |
Ford |
30.059 |
1.206 |
179.647 |
|
35 |
41 |
Cole Custer |
Chevrolet |
30.250 |
1.397 |
178.512 |
|
36 |
10 |
Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet |
30.607 |
1.754 |
176.430 |
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