NASCAR at Las Vegas: Kyle Larson holds off Christopher Bell, sweeps his way to a win

Live updates for this race have concluded. For a look at where the playoff drivers stand, click here.

Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck will be providing updates from today’s Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas. Follow those musings below. Refresh this page as needed. All times are Eastern.

Lap 267: Christopher Bell made it very interesting on the last lap, closing to within a quarter second of Kyle Larson, but Larson held Bell off and won the race! Kyle Laarson will move on to the Championship Four!

Lap 265: With two to go, Bell is all over Larson. Only a half second separates the two.

Lap 262: With five to go, Christopher Bell has closed the gap to less than a second! This is going to be a great finish.

Lap 257: With 10 laps to go, Kyle Larson remains in front. Christopher Bell is in second, and is within 1.5 seconds. There’s a 2-second gap then back to Keselowski in third, and another second back to Kyle Busch in fourth. Only thing that figures to maybe shake things up would be a late-race caution.

Lap 243: Nearing 20 to go, and Kyle Larson, who won the first two stages, has a grip on this third one, too. He’s opened up nearly two seconds on Brad Keselowski. Christopher Bell is right with them, but then there is a three-plus second gap back to fourth and fifth.

Lap 233: Kyle Larson has wrestled the lead back from Brad Keselowski after Keselowski jumped him on the restart. As we get to within 30 to go, Larson leads. Bell and Byron are the next playoff drivers in line, right behind Keselowski.

As the playoff race stands, Martin Truex Jr. is right on that cut line in 4th/5th position, with Christopher Bell.

Lap 213: Caution is out after Ryan Blaney loses his right-side tires, and that makes for some interesting pit stop decisions for the leaders.

They all came in, and Kyle Larson was the top car off the road, gaining two spots to take the lead from Christopher Bell.

Lap 190: Brad Keselowski finds an opening and moves back into second place, but Ross Chastain catches him again. Christopher Bell continues leading.

Your Top 10: Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano.

Lap 186: Ross Chastain keeps pushing! He’s about two car lengths behind leader Christopher Bell. Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson are battling for third, and William Byron and Denny Hamlin are fighting for fifth.

Lap 172: We’re green for the final stage!

Christopher Bell won the race off Pit Road and leads the field from the inside. Ross Chastain isn’t far behind him on the outside.

Stage 2

Lap 165: Kyle Larson is your Stage 2 winner! The No. 5 Chevy sweeps the first two stages at Las Vegas.

Your Top 10: Larson, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

Chris Buescher is in 15th, and Martin Truex Jr. is in 20th.

Lap 159: Ross Chastain comes surging through the field to second place. The No. 1 car is still about six car lengths away from Kyle Larson, who has led for most of today’s race. Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Christopher Bell are running in the Top Five.

Lap 156: Kyle Larson is back in the lead! The No. 5 car has been battling Brad Keselowski for the lead with 10 laps left in Stage 2.

Lap 148: We’re green again!

Lap 146: All lead cars pitted under caution, and Brad Keselowski won the race off Pit Road again.

Lap 145: Caution is out! Alex Bowman spins on the front stretch. The No. 48 car is done for the day.

Lap 141: Kyle Larson makes contact with the wall going around a turn! No caution is out, but the No. 5 car has slowed and dropped to fifth place. William Byron is into second. Brad Keselowski has about a three-second advantage over the field.

Lap 128: Brad Keselowski continues leading the field, just ahead of Kyle Larson and William Byron.

Your Top 10: Keselowski, Larson, Byron, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman. Tyler Reddick, the only other playoff driver, is 11th.

Lap 117: We’re green again! Brad Keselowski won the race off Pit Road and is battling with Kyle Larson for the lead.

Lap 111: Carson Hocevar’s tire blows out! Caution is out. Hocevar, who will move to the Cup Series full-time next year, spun out after hitting the wall on a turn.

Your Top 10: Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick.

“Honestly, I thought I could have kept going,” Hocevar told the PRN radio broadcast afterward. “Tough day. ... Probably should have known something was going on.”

Lap 97: Denny Hamlin moved into the lead after Martin Truex Jr. led the field to green. Brad Keselowski, who hasn’t won since Talladega in 2021, gets up to second place.

Lap 87: We’re green again for Stage 2!

Stage 1

Lap 80: Kyle Larson wins Stage 1!

Larson and Bell started and ended the stage in first and second, respectively, with one of them holding the lead for nearly the entire stage.

Your Top 10 after a stage critical for playoff points: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and William Byron. Chris Buescher finished 14th, making him the only playoff driver to not get stage points.

Lap 72: We’re green again! Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson continue leading the field. Eight laps left in Stage 1.

Lap 66: We have our first yellow flag! Erik Jones has a flat right rear tire. The 43 car is headed to Pit Road.

Lap 46: Ross Chastain is among several drivers who received penalties after those pit stops, none of whom are toward the front of the field.

Your Top 10: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher and Aric Almirola.

Lap 39: This round of green flag pit stops is now complete. Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. all pitted from the front of the field.

Lap 36: Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher made early pit stops. Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. continue running in the front.

Lap 33: Martin Truex Jr. passes Kyle Larson for second place. Christopher Bell still has the lead. Nearly seven seconds separate those top three drivers from the rest of the field.

Lap 29: Christopher Bell passes Kyle Larson for the lead! Martin Truex Jr. has been running in third and continues inching closer to the leaders, as well.

Lap 16: The cars that started toward the front haven’t left there, and there’s plenty of separation between the top drivers and the rest of the field. Kyle Larson passed Christopher Bell in the third lap and has a 0.6-second lead.

Your Top 10: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Chris Buescher, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman.

Green flag, 2:52 p.m.: The green flag is flying! We’re racing!

2:40 p.m.: Engines are fired! Roughly 10 minutes away from racing in Las Vegas.

1 p.m.: It’s almost time for the Round of 8 to begin!

Green flag is scheduled for around 2:50 p.m. (2 p.m., NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Christopher Bell will lead the field to green for a field-best sixth time this year — his fourth pole in seven playoff races. He’ll be followed by other playoff drivers, as Kyle Larson, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher make up the top five.

Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez will start at the rear of the field, as both the Nos. 9 and 99 will be backup cars.

Some timing info for today, from NASCAR: the invocation will be at 2:31, the national anthem at 2:32, command at 2:39 and green flag at 2:50. (11:50 a.m. local time green flag in Las Vegas).

Odds/predictions for Sunday’s race

Kyle Larson is the favorite at 9-2 odds, according to SportsLine, followed by William Byron (11-2), Denny Hamlin (6-1), Tyler Reddick (15-2) and Martin Truex Jr. (15-2).

Shane Connuck is predicting Tyler Reddick to take the checkered flag. The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota has been fast all year, and that speed will be important at an intermediate track like Las Vegas. There’s a good chance we see a win from a playoff driver today, as this track will likely favor those cars.

Starting lineup for the South Point 400

Position Driver Car Number

How to watch the NASCAR playoffs at Las Vegas

Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Clark County, Nevada, about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip)

Race: South Point 400

Date: Sunday, Oct. 15

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Streaming: NBC Sports App/NBCSports.com

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 80, Stage 2 ends on Lap 165 and the Final Stage ends on Lap 267