Bowyer speeds to surprise pole

LAS VEGAS» Stewart-haas Racing surged into the opening race of NASCAR’S playoffs with a Clint Bowyer-led sweep of the front two rows at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing, meanwhile, struggled across the board in its preparation for Sunday’s opening playoff race. While SHR put its four Fords in the top four slots, the Gibbs Toyotas qualified in the middle of the pack with Erik Jones the slowest of the 16 playoff drivers.

Gibbs as an organization is considered the favorite in NASCAR’S 10-race run to the Cup championship, and the poor qualifying Saturday was as surprising as Bowyer’s pole-winning run. Bowyer had to claw his way into the playoff field, is seeded 15th, and last won a pole 12 years ago to the day at New Hampshire.

He’d gone 431 career starts between poles, and now has three for his career.

“I did not see this coming. This is a surprise to me,” he said. “If I just sat on the pole, that car is obviously a bullet.”

The entire SHR fleet was fast, with Daniel Suarez qualifying second, followed by Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola. Suarez is the only SHR driver not in the playoffs.

But some of the playoff participants said it will take one long run in Sunday’s race to learn if SHR is truly fast, or if the organization focused specifically on qualifying to earn valuable track position.

“It is pretty obvious when you look at the rundown of who has speed and who is dialed for handling,” said reigning series champion Joey Logano. “If the StewartHaas cars have both, we are all in trouble. It is a trade-off when you come to these places. It is really hard to have both. You can’t have both. You have to make your bed and lay in it.”

Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native, qualified fifth in a Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. Chase Elliott was the next highest playoff driver at eighth in his Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Denny Hamlin at 13th was the best of the Gibbs contingent, while Kyle Busch was 20th, Martin Truex Jr. 24th and finally Jones in 26th.