LAS VEGAS — With a blistering lap of 187.156 mph in Saturday’s time trials at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell claimed the pole position for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.

Bell navigated the 1.5-mile intermediate track in 28.853 seconds to beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (186.188 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.150 seconds.

The Busch Light pole award was Bell’s first of the season, his fourth at Las Vegas, and the 15th of his career.

With JGR’s Ty Gibbs qualifying third at 185.803 mph and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace fourth at 185.771 mph, Toyota swept the top four starting spots in a race for the seventh time in the manufacturer’s history in the NASCAR Cup Series, with the most recent occurrence coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year.

This was the second straight Las Vegas race in which Toyotas have started 1-2-3, with Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Bell doing the honors in qualifying last fall.

“It was pretty simple, really,” Bell said of his qualifying lap. “It takes a lot of commitment here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to qualify well. My team got their Ps and Qs right. We had a lot of grip, and I held my foot down, and we won the pole.”

Bell’s car seemed unbothered by the troublesome Turn 1 bumps that upset the efforts of several other competitors.

“It’s a compromise,” Bell said. “Every time you come to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s a compromise of getting your car to have as much grip as you can have in (Turns) 3 and 4 without the bump hindering you in (Turns) 1 and 2.

“Anytime you make the car drive better across the bumps, you’re giving up performance on the smooth part of the race track, and my team nailed it.”

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson (185.54 8mph) qualified fifth in the fastest Chevrolet, with Phoenix winner Ryan Blaney (185.185 mph) claiming the sixth spot on the grid in the top Ford.

Series leader Tyler Reddick, winner of the first three races this season, will start seventh, followed by Ryan Preece, William Byron and Chris Buescher.

Defending race winner Josh Berry qualified 32nd in the Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

Note: The last seven times Bell has won a NASCAR Cup Series pole, he has finished the race in the top 10. His last two Las Vegas poles (2023 and 2024) have resulted in second-place finishes.

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service, Special to Field Level Media

Emmanuel Latte Lath, Tomas Jacob and Alexey Miranchuk had a goal apiece — with Miguel Almiron assisting on all three — as Atlanta United picked up its first win of the season in a 3-1 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon.

Atlanta’s win was its first since a 1-0 road defeat of Nashville SC on Aug. 30, 2025. It also snapped a five-match winless streak (0-3-2) against the Union.

Philadelphia (0-4-0, 0 points) remained without a win while suffering its third straight loss across all competitions.

Atlanta (1-3-0, 3 points) opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Almiron slipped a ball ahead to Latte Lath, who raced into the scoring area. With Union goalkeeper Andre Blake pulled off his line, Latte Lath easily finished into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Union were awarded a penalty late in the first half after Elias Baez was ruled to have committed a foul in the box, but Milan Iloski’s attempt from the spot struck the left post.

That allowed Atlanta to double its lead in the 47th minute. Almiron’s pass from the left-hand side was laid off by Latte Lath, leaving Jacob plenty of space and time to score his first MLS goal for a 2-0 lead.

Miranchuk made it a 3-0 advantage in the 68th minute, scoring his third goal in two matches.

Agustin Anello had the Union’s lone goal in the 87th minute, his first in MLS.

Lucas Hoyos turned aside two of Philadelphia’s three shots on target. Blake had a pair of saves for the Union.

Atlanta’s win was its first at home in an MLS match since beating Orlando City 3-2 on May 28, 2025. It also defeated the Union for the first time since July 2, 2023.

–Field Level Media

Colombian star James Rodriguez is expected to make his long-awaited MLS debut Sunday afternoon when Minnesota United travel to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps.

Rodriguez, who won the Golden Boot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil after scoring six goals while leading Colombia to the quarterfinals, signed with the Loons on Feb. 6 after a stint with Club Leon in Mexico. In a video posted on X by streamer Pelicanger, Rodriguez said he plans to play Sunday.

“Yes, with the grace of God,” said Rodriguez, who sat out Minnesota’s 3-1 loss on March 7 at Nashville with a contusion. “Against (Thomas) Muller’s team. I don’t know what it is called. Vancouver, I think.”

Muller, the 2010 Golden Boot winner after leading Germany to a third-place finish, and Rodriguez were teammates for two seasons at Bayern Munich from 2017-19.

Head coach Cameron Knowles said Rodriguez returned to training on Tuesday for Minnesota United (1-1-1, 4 points).

Vancouver (3-0-0, 9 points), which entered the weekend in a four-way tie for first place in the Western Conference with San Diego, San Jose and Los Angeles FC, has outscored its opponents 8-1 in MLS play. However, the Whitecaps are coming off a 3-0 home loss to the Seattle Sounders on Thursday in the first leg of CONCACAF Round-of-16 action.

Paul Arriola scored two goals in the first 58 minutes to lead Seattle. Vancouver lost despite finishing with huge edges in shot attempts (16-10) and possession (64.2%), but managed just three shots on goal. The second leg is Wednesday in Spokane, Wash., while Lumen Field undergoes preparations to hold World Cup matches this summer.

“We had a lot of shots and a lot of opportunities, but we did not hit the target,” Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen said. “That’s where we have to be a little more cool in the moment and be able to get a quality shot instead of rushing it in the moment.”

Now the Whitecaps face a quick turnaround to host the Loons.

“It’s tough, but we have two days for recovery,” goaltender Yohei Takaoka said. “We have a game in two days against Minnesota, and we need to react in a good way.”

–Field Level Media