Erik Jones is in a great position to make a run at winning the South Point 400 (3 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN), the first race of NASCAR's 2018 playoffs, after earning the pole position Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Joey Logano was close behind him in second, while Denny Hamlin qualified in the third position.
Jones had a good first round, but he really found his bearings in the second round. He posted the fastest time on track in that stage. He carried that momentum on into the final round.
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"I knew we had a good car in practice, I didn't know if we were going to have the speed to get the pole, but the track kind of came to us," Jones told NBCSN after his run. "I figured I knew what we were going to need to do adjustment-wise and so did Chris (Gayle, Jones' crew chief) and we were just able to get the Dewalt Camry the way it needed to be and put together a really good lap."
Starting up front in this race is vital. The last two winners of the race (Kevin Harvick, 2018, Martin Truex Jr. 2017) have come from the front row.
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Kyle Busch will start in fourth while Harvick, who won the spring Vegas race this year, will start fifth.
Playoff driver Brad Keselowski will start 13th after failing to advance to the final round by .001 seconds. In addition to Keselowski, playoff drivers who will start outside the top 12 are: Clint Bowyer (15th), Aric Almirola (16th), Jimmie Johnson (17th) and Austin Dillon (18th).
Playoff drivers Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson occupy the seventh through 11th positions on the starting grid, respectively. Truex and Kyle Busch each had to make two runs in Round 2 to bump their way into the final 12.
Material from the NASCAR Wire Service was used in this report.
NASCAR starting lineup for the South Point 400
Position, car number (in parentheses), driver, speed
1. (20) Erik Jones (P), Toyota, 188.121 mph.
2. (22) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 188.101 mph.
3. (11) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 187.624 mph.
4. (18) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 187.402 mph.
5. (4) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 187.396 mph.
6. (12) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 187.084 mph.
7. (9) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 186.735 mph.
8. (41) Kurt Busch (P), Ford, 186.483 mph.
9. (88) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 186.374 mph.
10. (78) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 186.098 mph.
11. (42) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 185.950 mph.
12. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 183.125 mph.
13. (2) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 186.619 mph.
14. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 186.599 mph.
15. (14) Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 186.580 mph.
16. (10) Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 186.548 mph.
17. (48) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, 186.509 mph.
18. (3) Austin Dillon (P), Chevrolet, 186.483 mph.
19. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 186.451 mph.
20. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 186.432 mph.
21. (24) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 186.400 mph.
22. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 185.861 mph.
23. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 185.644 mph.
24. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 184.913 mph.
25. (95) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 185.185 mph.
26. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 184.938 mph.
27. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 184.723 mph.
28. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 184.660 mph.
29. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 184.603 mph.
30. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 184.231 mph.
31. (43) Bubba Wallace #, Chevrolet, 182.815 mph.
32. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 180.662 mph.
33. (99) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 180.584 mph.
34. (15) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 180.337 mph.
35. (96) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 179.976 mph.
36. (23) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 179.432 mph.
37. (00) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 178.283 mph.
38. (51) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 177.538 mph.
39. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 176.085 mph.
40. (7) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
(P) Playoff driver.
# Rookie.
(i) Ineligible for series points.