Ryan Blaney picked up his third career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday evening (March 2) for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. This pole is his first in 2018 for Team Penske, and it came with a lap of 191.489 mph.
Atlanta winner Kevin Harvick made the front row a Ford sweep with a 190.248 mph lap. He was followed by teammate Kurt Busch, coming in third at his hometown track. Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest Toyota, qualifying fourth, and the top five was rounded out by Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson.
Chase Elliott will start sixth, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brad Keselowski. Erik Jones and Joey Logano will comprise row five while Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard rounded out the top 12.
In Round No. 2, Harvick was fastest with a lap of 191.090 mph. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin all failed to advance to the final round. They’ll start 13th, 14th and 19th, respectively.
In Round No. 1, Menard was fastest with a lap of 190.181 mph. Failing to advance from Round No. 1 were Ryan Newman and Darrell Wallace Jr., who are starting 25th and 26th. Cole Custer will make his Cup Series debut starting from the 30th position.
Only 37 cars are entered, so everyone will start the race on Sunday.
STARTING LINEUP FOR THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES PENNZOIL 400 PRESENTED BY JIFFY LUBE
Coverage of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube begins at 3 p.m. ET this Sunday (March 4) on FOX. The green flag is scheduled to fall around 3:45 p.m. ET.