The NASCARCup Series took the track this afternoon to qualify for the Pennzoil 400. The track tends to favor the best drivers, with historical best finishers being Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, among others. That is exactly what the qualifying session saw today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The results show us one thing very clearly — Toyota is shooting for the moon. Toyota commands five of the top-7 spots, all being of that Joe Gibbs Racing-23XI Racing partnership. Christopher Bell jumped ahead of Denny Hamlin for pole position as Ty Gibbs bears down. Good luck to Chevrolet and Ford.
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Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Qualifying Results
|
Starting Position |
Driver |
Team |
|
1 |
Christopher Bell |
20 |
|
2 |
Denny Hamlin |
11 |
|
3 |
Ty Gibbs |
54 |
|
4 |
Bubba Wallace |
23 |
|
5 |
Kyle Larson |
5 |
|
6 |
Ryan Blaney |
12 |
|
7 |
Tyler Reddick |
45 |
|
8 |
Ryan Preece |
60 |
|
9 |
William Byron |
24 |
|
10 |
Chris Buescher |
17 |
|
11 |
Austin Dillon |
3 |
|
12 |
Zane Smith |
38 |
|
13 |
Daniel Suarez |
7 |
|
14 |
Erik Jones |
43 |
|
15 |
Chase Elliott |
9 |
|
16 |
Shane van Gisbergen |
97 |
|
17 |
Ross Chastain |
1 |
|
18 |
Chase Briscoe |
19 |
|
19 |
Carson Hocevar |
77 |
|
20 |
Riley Herbst |
35 |
|
21 |
Justin Allgaier |
48 |
|
22 |
Joey Logano |
22 |
|
23 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
47 |
|
24 |
Kyle Busch |
8 |
|
25 |
Connor Zilisch |
88 |
|
26 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
42 |
|
27 |
Todd Gilliland |
34 |
|
28 |
Brad Keselowski |
6 |
|
29 |
AJ Allmendinger |
16 |
|
30 |
Michael McDowell |
71 |
|
31 |
Austin Cindric |
2 |
|
32 |
Josh Berry |
21 |
|
33 |
Cody Ware |
51 |
|
34 |
Noah Gragson |
4 |
|
35 |
Cole Custer |
41 |
|
36 |
Ty Dillon |
10 |
Great Qualifying Results
Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Interstate Batteries Toyota, practices for the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
((Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images))
Christopher Bell follows up his strong second-place finish last week in Phoenix by earning pole position at Las Vegas. He will be a sure-fire threat to win this race as the Toyotas look like rocket ships.
Denny Hamlin won at Las Vegas last fall. Of course, he will be a favorite to win from second place on the grid.
Ty Gibbs looks for a third-straight strong week, earning third place in qualifying. He is among our Fantasy NASCAR longshots of the week.
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Bad Qualifying Results
Austin Cindric remains the clear worst car in Team Penske. The No. 2 will start the Pennzoil 400 from 31st place, and they will hope to even take a peek at a top-10 finish.
Brad Keselowski was another selection of ours pre-week; however, the RFK Racing No. 6 Ford comes in 25th place, thus much less likely to sniff victory lane.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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