LAS VEGAS — Christopher Bell won the pole in Saturday qualifying for the opening race of the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
Bell turned a lap at 185.344 mph in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to take the top starting spot for Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bell is one of eight drivers attempting to earn a spot in the Cup Series championship finale.
“I feel really good. I feel really comfortable,” Bell said. “I know we’re going to have a shot at it.”
A win by any of the playoff drivers at Las Vegas on Sunday, or the next two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway or in Martinsville, Virginia, will earn an automatic berth in the finale. The fourth slot will go the highest-ranked driver in the Cup Series standings.
Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion, qualified second in a Toyota for 23XI Racing. Alex Bowman, who lost his spot in the playoff field when his car failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Charlotte and he was disqualified, qualified fourth.
Denny Hamlin, teammate with Bell at JGR, qualified third as Toyotas took three of the top four qualifying positions.
Current points leader Kyle Larson, the defending race winner, was fifth as he and Bowman put a pair of Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports in the top five.
William Byron qualified seventh for Hendrick, while Joey Logano of Team Penske was 10th in a Ford. Logano was moved into the round of eight following Bowman’s disqualification last week.
Chase Elliott was the slowest of all the playoff drivers with an 18th-place qualifying lap. But he’s not the lowest starter of the title contenders: Reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney will start last after a crash early in his 20-minute practice session ended his Saturday.
The No. 12 Ford seemed to blow a tire and spun into the wall in a driver-side impact.
“I had no warning,” he radioed his team. “I’m sorry.”
Team Penske needed to start preparing a backup Ford that wasn’t ready for qualifying. Plus, Blaney took a hard hit that made it sound as if his wind was knocked from him when his car slammed into the wall.
“Hard hit. But I live,” Blaney said. “I’m all right, just blew a tire and it stinks. Shame it ended our practice early, we’ve got our work cut out for us. There’s definitely a lot to overcome, starting from the back and no laps with this backup car.”
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.