NASCAR at Las Vegas 2018 Qualifying Results: Ryan Blaney Takes Pole

Ryan Blaney will start ahead of the rest of the field in Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Blaney won the pole position in Friday's qualifying, posting an impressive lap in Round 3 after the field had been cut to 12. He is second in the early points standings and will have the opportunity to make a statement after leading the way in the qualifying portion.

NASCAR reacted to the developments:

Here is a look at the top 12, per NASCAR.com:

1. Ryan Blaney, 28.200 seconds

2. Kevin Harvick, 28.384 seconds

3. Kurt Busch, 28.411 seconds

4. Martin Truex Jr., 28.424 seconds

5. Kyle Larson, 28.504 seconds

6. Chase Elliott, 28.545 seconds

7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 28.549 seconds

8. Brad Keselowski, 28.556 seconds

9. Erik Jones, 28.614 seconds

10. Joey Logano, 28.626 seconds

11. Clint Bowyer, 28.652 seconds

12. Paul Menard, 28.656 seconds

Blaney isn't the only one with early-season success who performed well in the qualifying process in Las Vegas.

Kevin Harvick is coming off a win in Atlanta and advanced to the final round before settling for second. He also led the way in the second round and was consistent with positioning hanging in the balance.

Martin Truex Jr. is the defending champion in Las Vegas and made the final round while posting a fourth-place finish. Joey Logano, the points leader, finished in 10th place, although Denny Hamlin—who is third place in the early standings—didn't make it through the second round of qualifying.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Truex, though, as he experienced some issues with his tire. Bob Pockrass of ESPN noted it shouldn't be of concern come Sunday's race:

Some of the most notable developments in Friday's qualifying regarded those who didn't reach the third and final round. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is slumping, hasn't won in 25 races and settled for a disappointing 14th place, while Kyle Busch was eliminated in the second round as well and placed in 13th.

At least they made it out of the first round, which trimmed the field to 24. That is more than Ryan Newman and Darrell Wallace Jr. can say after struggling in the early going and never recovering.

Attention turns to Blaney now, who will have nothing but open track ahead of him at the start of Sunday's race. He will look to parlay his formidable performance from qualifying into a victory and bolster what has already been a solid start to the season.