NASCAR: 2018 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas qualifying results
By Asher Fair
The qualifying session for the third race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is complete.
Despite the fact that the Ford drivers have been dominant through the first two races of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, they had not yet taken a pole position for a race yet this year. Alex Bowman took the pole position in his #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in Daytona, and Kyle Busch took the pole position in his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Atlanta.
Ryan Blaney changed that trend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, Blaney posted a lap at 28.200 seconds (191.489 miles per hour) around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway tri-oval in his #12 Team Penske Ford to take the pole position, his third career pole position, for Sunday’s race.
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Blaney led a 1-2-3 Ford driver sweep in qualifying, with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch qualifying in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Ford drivers qualified in eight of the top 12 positions for the race.
Just two Toyota drivers and two Chevrolet drivers qualified in the top 12 for the race. The top Toyota driver in the session was last year’s Las Vegas winner Martin Truex Jr. in his #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota in 4th place. Erik Jones qualified in 9th in his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The top Chevrolet driver in the session was last year’s Las Vegas runner-up Kyle Larson in his #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in 5th place. Chase Elliott qualified in 6th in his #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Only four drivers of the 37 that are entered for this weekend’s race failed to make a qualifying attempt. Those drivers were Jeffrey Earnhardt, Gray Gaulding, Cole Whitt and Joey Gase.
Here are the full qualifying results for the Pennzoil 400.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 9 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 10 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 11 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 12 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 14 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 15 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 16 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 17 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 19 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 20 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 23 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 24 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 25 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 26 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 27 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 29 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 30 | Cole Custer | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 31 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 33 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 34 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 35 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 36 | Cole Whitt | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 37 | Joey Gase | #55, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
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Be sure not to miss Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 when it is broadcast live from Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on FOX starting at 3:30 pm ET.