NASCAR Cup Series: Clint Bowyer takes pole for 2019 South Point 400

Clint Bowyer led a 1-2-3-4 Stewart-Haas Racing sweep to take the pole position for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the South Point 400.

For the first time since the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer has taken the pole position for a race.

Bowyer took the pole position for the 2019 playoff opener, the South Point 400, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ending a 431-race pole position drought.

Bowyer took the pole position for this 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 30.180 seconds (178.926 miles per hour) in his #14 Ford in the single-car qualifying session for this race.

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The 40-year-old Emporia, Kansas native led a top four Stewart-Haas Racing sweep on the speed chart, giving the team their second 1-2-3-4 sweep of the season and third within the last year, although their sweep at Kansas Speedway in mid-May went away after two drivers were penalized and were forced to surrender their starting positions before the race.

Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola rounded out the top four by qualifying in second, third and fourth place in their #41 Ford, #4 Ford and #10 Ford, respectively.

Chevrolet drivers took the next five positions on the speed chart with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch in fifth place in his #1 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing teammates Daniel Hemric, a rookie, and Austin Dillon in sixth and seventh in their #8 Chevrolet and #3 Chevrolet, respectively, and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson in eighth and ninth in their #9 Chevrolet and #48 Chevrolet, respectively.

Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell qualified in 10th place in his #34 Ford ahead of teammate David Ragan in 11th in his #38 Ford. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified in 12th in his #17 Ford ahead of the fastest Toyota driver of this qualifying session, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, in 13th in his #11 Toyota.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

NOTE: Playoff drivers are listed in italics.

Qualifying Results
1st – Clint Bowyer
2nd – Daniel Suarez
3rd – Kevin Harvick
4th – Aric Almirola
5th – Kurt Busch
6th – Daniel Hemric
7th – Austin Dillon
8th – Chase Elliott
9th – Jimmie Johnson
10th – Michael McDowell
11th – David Ragan
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13th – Denny Hamlin
14th – William Byron
15th – Kyle Larson
16th – Ryan Preece
17th – Ryan Newman
18th – Brad Keselowski
19th – Alex Bowman
20th – Kyle Busch
21st – Paul Menard
22nd – Joey Logano
23rd – Ryan Blaney
24th – Martin Truex Jr.
25th – Matt DiBenedetto
26th – Erik Jones
27th – Ty Dillon
28th – Chris Buescher
29th – Matt Tifft
30th – Landon Cassill
31st – Darrell Wallace Jr.
32nd – Ross Chastain
33rd – Corey LaJoie
34th – Garrett Smithley
35th – B.J. McLeod
36th – J.J. Yeley
37th – Reed Sorenson
38th – Joe Nemechek
39th – Joey Gase

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The South Point 400 is the first of 10 races throughout the four-round 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, and it is scheduled to get the round of 16 underway tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network for the live broadcast of this race from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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