NASCAR at Las Vegas 2019 Qualifying Results: Clint Bowyer Wins Pole Position

Clint Bowyer will lead the field Sunday at the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the first race of the 2019 NASCAR playoffs. 

After the 16-driver playoff field was set last week, Bowyer, who is the No. 15 seed, is in a prime position to make an early statement and gain ground in the standings. 

Bowyer earned the pole when he finished his lap in 30.180 seconds, narrowly edging out Daniel Suarez by nine-one-thousandths of a second (30.189). 

Here's how the field will line up from Las Vegas, via NASCAR.com:

Row 1: Clint Bowyer (pole), Daniel Suarez

Row 2: Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola

Row 3: Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric

Row 4: Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott

Row 5: Jimmie Johnson, Michael McDowell

Row 6: David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

Row 7: Denny Hamlin, William Byron

Row 8: Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece

Row 9: Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski

Row 10: Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch

Row 11: Paul Menard, Joey Logano

Row 12: Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr.

Row 13: Matt DiBenedetto, Erik Jones

Row 14: Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher

Row 15: Matt Tifft, Landon Cassill

Row 16: Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain

Row 17: Corey LaJoie, Garrett Smithley

Row 18: BJ McLeod, J.J. Yeley

Row 19: Reed Sorensen, Joe Nemechek

Row 20: Joey Gase

Sunday will mark almost exactly 12 years to the day since Bowyer last started a race from out in front. He won the pole for the Sylvania 300 event that took place on Sept. 16, 2007. 

This could be a good sign for Bowyer because he won that race. A victory Sunday would also be his first of the 2019 season. 

Stewart-Haas Racing also has reason to celebrate Saturday's qualifying run:

The last time Stewart-Haas Racing had the top four drivers in qualifying at the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500, Aric Almirola won after finishing fourth in qualifying. He will be starting from that spot Sunday in search of his first win since Talladega last year.

One driver likely not celebrating after qualifying is Kyle Busch. The No. 1 seed in the playoff standings had a disappointing 20th-place finish Saturday. One reason for optimism is he's produced strong results at this track in recent years, including a third-place finish at the Pennzoil 400 in March. 

If there is a concern for Busch, he has slowed down as the season has gone on. The 2015 NASCAR champion has finished outside the top 10 four times in the past 10 races. His worst finish of the season came last week at the Brickyard 400 (37th place) when he completed just 87 laps because of motor failure. 

Busch told Dustin Long of NBC Sports (h/t Yahoo Sports) his run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this year gives him confidence this weekend: "We were really fast here [in Las Vegas] in the spring—coulda, woulda, shoulda won the race if it wasn't for speeding on pit road. Hopefully this time around we'll keep it clean and have a shot to win again."

Winning the regular-season point standings did give Busch a 15-point advantage over his playoff competitors. It also helps that Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., who rank second and third in the standings, also had difficult qualifying runs. 

Truex, in particular, struggled his way to 24th place. He's looking for his first finish inside the top 12 since the Consumers Energy 400 on Aug. 11. 

The playoff spotlight will amplify the intensity of everything for the next 10 weeks. Busch has been the best driver all season, but he's left things open recently for someone to potentially steal the crown away from him.