LAS VEGAS — Erik Jones surprised the field by winning the pole Friday for the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, turning a lap in 28.705 seconds and narrowly edging Joey Logano in qualifying for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Jones opened the first weekend of NASCAR’s 10-race postseason by earning his second career pole in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The 22-year-old is the youngest driver ever to win the pole at Las Vegas.

Logano did his lap in 28.708 seconds in his Team Penske Ford to grab the other spot in the front row. Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

The Vegas race is the first of 10 playoff contests to crown a champion. Jones is in the 16-driver playoff field for the first time, joining Alex Bowman as debut contenders.

Jones had just one pole in his first 65 Cup races, but the youngster is quietly making progress. He earned his first career victory at Daytona in July by holding off Martin Truex Jr. in overtime, and he has six top-10 finishes in eight races since that breakthrough.

FORMULA ONE: Ferrari’s decision not to keep Kimi Raikkonen next season was based on the team’s long-term future rather than the driver’s current form.

The 38-year-old Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One champion, is being replaced next season by 20-year-old Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc came through the Ferrari academy program but is racing in his first F1 season with the Sauber team. Raikkonen has 20 wins among his 100 career podiums.

“It’s very important to look at the team perspective, in two or three years. In my opinion that justifies our choice enough,” Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said.

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