Erik Jones took the pole position for the opening race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the South Point 400, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones opened up his first career NASCAR Cup Series playoff appearance in the best possible way, as he took the pole position for the first of this season’s 10 playoff races, the South Point 400, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jones took the pole position for the 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval in Las Vegas, Nevada by recording a top lap time of 28.705 seconds (188.121 miles per hour) in his #20 Toyota.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the highest qualifying Ford driver for the race. He qualified in second place in his #22 Ford. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is the highest qualifying Chevrolet driver for it. He qualified in seventh in his #9 Chevrolet.
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Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch qualified on the second row of the grid in third and fourth place in their #11 Toyota and #18 Toyota, respectively. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five by qualifying in fifth place in his #4 Ford.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney qualified in sixth place in his #12 Ford. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10 by qualifying in eighth, ninth and 10th in their #41 Ford, #88 Chevrolet and #78 Toyota, respectively.
By qualifying in 11th place in his #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kyle Larson rounded out a top 11 sweep of the starting grid by playoff drivers. His teammate, Jamie McMurray, is the highest qualifying non-playoff driver for the race. He qualified in 12th in his #1 Chevrolet.
The five other playoff drivers who failed to qualify in the top 11 were Team Penske’s Brad Keselwoski, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon. They qualified in 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th place in their #2 Ford, #14 Ford, #10 Ford, #48 Chevrolet and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.
Aside of McMurray, the highest qualifying non-playoff driver for the race is Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He qualified in 14th place in his #17 Ford.
Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
| Qualifying Results |
| 1st – Erik Jones |
| 2nd – Joey Logano |
| 3rd – Denny Hamlin |
| 4th – Kyle Busch |
| 5th – Kevin Harvick |
| 6th – Ryan Blaney |
| 7th – Chase Elliott |
| 8th – Kurt Busch |
| 9th – Alex Bowman |
| 10th – Martin Truex Jr. |
| 11th – Kyle Larson |
| 12th – Jamie McMurray |
| 13th – Brad Keselowski |
| 14th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 15th – Clint Bowyer |
| 16th – Aric Almirola |
| 17th – Jimmie Johnson |
| 18th – Austin Dillon |
| 19th – Daniel Suarez |
| 20th – Paul Menard |
| 21st – William Byron |
| 22nd – Ryan Newman |
| 23rd – Trevor Bayne |
| 24th – Michael McDowell |
| 25th – Regan Smith |
| 26th – Matt DiBenedetto |
| 27th – David Ragan |
| 28th – Chris Buescher |
| 29th – A.J. Allmendinger |
| 30th – Ty Dillon |
| 31st – Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 32nd – Corey Lajoie |
| 33rd – Kyle Weatherman |
| 34th – Ross Chastain |
| 35th – Jeffrey Earnhardt |
| 36th – J.J. Yeley |
| 37th – Landon Cassill |
| 38th – B.J. McLeod |
| 39th – Timmy Hill |
| 40th – Reed Sorenson |
Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 16 for the live broadcast of the first race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the South Point 400.