Kyle Larson has been lucky of late in Las Vegas, where he opens the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs on top of the Cup Series standings and the favorite to win today’s race.

Larson heads into the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as both the defending race winner and the victor of the spring race there this season. A victory would be three straight at Vegas, a season sweep, but most importantly, give Larson an automatic berth into the championship finale.

The playoff field started at 16 drivers and the three-race round of eight begins in Las Vegas to set the winner-take-all championship four finale. The third round next goes to Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in Virginia before the finale at Phoenix.

“Las Vegas has been one of our better tracks,” Larson said of his chances. “On paper, all three tracks in the round of eight stack up pretty well ... but we still have to go out and execute. I would like to run well and win.”

Larson already has two wins through the first two rounds of the playoffs, at Bristol Motor Speedway in the first round and then last week’s elimination race on the hybrid/road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That victory was his Cup Series-best sixth win of the season.

Larson will start in fifth after Christopher Bell earned poll position in qualifying Saturday.

Bell turned a lap at 185.344 mph in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to take the top starting spot Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is one of eight drivers attempting to earn a spot in the Cup Series championship finale.

“I feel really good. I feel really comfortable,” Bell said. “I know we’re going to have a shot at it.”

Tyler Reddick, the regular season champion, qualified second in a Toyota for 23XI Racing. Alex Bowman, who lost his spot in the playoff field when his car failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Charlotte and he was disqualified, qualified fourth.

Denny Hamlin, teammate with Bell at JGR, qualified third as Toyotas took three of the top four qualifying positions.

A win by any of the playoff drivers at Las Vegas on Sunday, or the next two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway or in Martinsville, Virginia, will earn an automatic berth in the finale. The fourth slot will go the highest ranked driver in the Cup Series standings.

Golf

Play resumes at windy shriner’s >> J.T. Poston had three birdies and an eagle over the final six holes Saturday morning to complete a 6-under 65 and share the 36-hole lead with Matti Schmid in the wind-delayed Shriners Children’s Open.

Schmid, who came into the FedEx Cup Fall portion of the season trying to secure a full PGA Tour card for next year, had a bogey-free 65 in windy conditions at the TPC Summerlin, though not nearly as strong as the other half of the field faced.

Wind gusts that approached 50 mph early Friday led to a four-hour delay to start the second round and left the tournament in catch-up mode the rest of the week.

Green leads LPGA event in South Korea >> Hannah Green of Australia shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday to hold a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.

Green shot 64 in each of the first two rounds, holding or sharing the lead at the end of each, and is 18-under 198 overall. The second round was completed early Saturday after rain washed out much of the play on Friday.

The field is loaded with 17 of the tour’s 18 winners this season. The one major absence is Nelly Korda, the LPGA’s No. 1-ranked golfer. She withdrew before the event with a neck injury.

Hockey

Stars prevail in conference finals rematch >> Matt Duchene scored the first two goals, Jake Oettinger won his first start since signing a big contract extension, and the Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Saturday in their first meeting since last season’s Western Conference Final.

Roope Hintz also scored and Jason Robertson added an empty-netter as the Stars improved to 4-0 at home this season by beating the team that eliminated them in six games in the West final.

Predators still seeking first win >> Andrew Copp scored twice, Alex Lyon made 37 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the winless Nashville Predators 5-2.

The Predators dropped to 0-5-0 this season. They are the only NHL team without a point.

Tennis

Djokovic, Nadal square off for possibly final time >> Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 for the championship in the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after Novak Djokovic topped Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the third-place match.

While Sinner and Alcaraz probably have plenty of future matchups in store, Djokovic and Nadal may have been playing for the final time in one of tennis’ great rivalries.

Djokovic won the match between rivals who have combined for 46 Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal, who won 22 Slam titles, is planning to retire after playing for Spain next month in the Davis Cup.