Kyle Busch, left, talks to a crew member after winning the pole position for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Kyle Busch, left, talks to a crew member after winning the pole position for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Credit: Steve Helber

Martinsville, Va. — Kyle Busch’s road to the championship round was made a little bit easier when he won the pole at Martinsville Speedway.

Busch turned a lap at 96.254 mph around the Virginia paperclip to earn the top starting spot in today’s race, the first of the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Eight drivers remain eligible for the title, but only four will advance to the season finale shootout.

A win in any of the three races in this round of the playoffs earns a driver an automatic berth.

The official lineup is not set until after this morning’s inspection, and drivers whose cars fail inspection will start from the rear. Pit selection will occur after cars are inspected, and Busch is eager to claim the first stall on pit road to ease his exits during the race.

Clint Bowyer qualified second in a Ford from Stewart-Haas Racing, which has all four of its drivers in the field of eight. SHR teammate Aric Almirola qualified fifth, Kurt Busch was seventh and Kevin Harvick 13th.

Chase Elliott was the lowest-qualifying playoff driver at 21st.

Formula One

Ricciarod on Mexico Pole

Mexico City — Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo snatched pole position from teammate Max Verstappen at the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton sits in perfect position in third to win his fifth career Formula One championship.

Verstappen dominated practice and looked primed to become the youngest pole sitter in F1 history. Ricciardo got him at the end of qualifying with a lap of 1 minute, 14.759 seconds in the high altitude at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, edging Verstappen by 0.026 seconds

The Red Bulls got their first front-row pairing since before the era of hybrid engines started in 2014. It’s also Ricciardo’s first pole since his victory in Monaco.

Hamilton is in a prime spot to secure the season championship. He needs only to finish seventh to win a title that would match him with the late Juan Manuel Fangio for second-most in F1 history.