Christopher Bell wins pole for Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (March 14) — Christopher Bell won the pole Saturday for the Pennzoil 400, turning the fastest lap in qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Bell drove his No. 20 Toyota to qualifying a lap under 29 seconds, beating the field by more than a tenth of a second.

Photo Credit: Elvin Anderson Jr.

“We had a lot of grip and I held my foot down,” Bell said. “My team hit their P’s and Q’s.”

Bell said the lap-time jump from practice to qualifying was typical when teams switch to qualifying trim, but the gap to the rest of the field reflected strong execution from his crew.

Las Vegas presents a setup challenge because of bumps in Turns 1 and 2 compared with the smoother surface in Turns 3 and 4.

“Every time you come to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s a compromise,” Bell said. “Anytime you make the car drive better across the bumps, you’re giving up performance on the smooth part of the racetrack.”

Sunday’s race is expected to be hotter than qualifying conditions, which should make the track slicker. Bell said that tends to improve the racing with NASCAR’s Next Gen car.

“The slicker it is, the more enjoyable it is to race these cars,” Bell said.

Bell also noted that fellow Toyota driver Denny Hamlin showed strong pace in longer practice runs.

“They 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.”

The Pennzoil 400 is scheduled for Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.