Christopher Bell rights his ship with pole-winning effort at Michigan
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Saving his best performance for the last round of qualifying, Christopher Bell sped to the pole position for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Bell covered the 2.0-mile distance in 37.232 seconds in Saturday’s money round, translating to a top speed of 193.82 mph—the fastest qualifying lap at any track since the 2020 Daytona 500.
Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was .027 seconds faster than the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet of Ross Chastain (193.242 mph). Ty Gibbs, who ran the fastest lap of the day in the first round (37.225 seconds at 193.418 mph) will start third after a final-round lap at 193.024 mph.
The pole-winning performance was a welcome turnaround for Bell, who has finished 18th or worse in four of his last five races.
“This is obviously a very important manufacturers race track, but more than that, it’s a big boost for this 20 team,” said Bell, who earned his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Michigan and the sixth of his career.
“We’ve been on the struggle bus a bit lately, and a lot of that’s my doing.”
Chris Buescher, last Sunday’s winner at Richmond raceway, qualified fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., putting three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the top five, as the Toyota drivers positioned themselves to try to break Ford’s eight-race winning streak in the Irish Hills.
The top five qualifiers all came from Group B of the split field. Joey Logano, who led Group A in the first round, backed that up with a sixth-place qualifying effort in the final round. William Byron will start seventh, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott.
Currently 40 points out of the final Playoff position on points, Elliott still believes he’ll have to win one of the next four races to qualify for the postseason.
“My stance has been the same since I got back,” said Elliott, who missed six races because of injury and one under suspension for wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. “I think we need to win.
“So, and like I have said a thousand times since I have been back, I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one in the same. It’s not coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins.”
Starting Line Up by Row
Michigan International Speedway
FireKeepers Casino 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/5/2023 @ 02:38 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 06/13/99 2:17:56 173.997
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 37.232 193.382
2 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Chevrolet 37.259 193.242
Row 2: 3 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 37.301 193.024
4 17 Chris Buescher Castrol Edge Ford 37.321 192.921
Row 3: 5 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 37.372 192.658
6 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 37.380 192.616
Row 4: 7 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 37.479 192.108
8 8 Kyle Busch Kwik Trip/Kwik Star Chevrolet 37.520 191.898
Row 5: 9 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford 37.544 191.775
10 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 37.548 191.755
Row 6: 11 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 37.398 192.524
12 6 Brad Keselowski Nexlizet Ford 37.453 192.241
Row 7: 13 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota 37.469 192.159
14 99 Daniel Suarez Worldwide Express Chevrolet 37.479 192.108
Row 8: 15 45 Tyler Reddick Rocket League Toyota 37.567 191.658
16 3 Austin Dillon Dow Mobility Science Chevrolet 37.567 191.658
Row 9: 17 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 37.633 191.321
18 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 37.643 191.271
Row 10: 19 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 37.651 191.230
20 48 Alex Bowman Ally x Detroit Pistons Chevrolet 37.652 191.225
Row 11: 21 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 37.653 191.220
22 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Peach Ford 37.697 190.997
Row 12: 23 34 Michael McDowell Love's/MTS Ford 37.707 190.946
24 16 AJ Allmendinger Farmsmart Chevrolet 37.720 190.880
Row 13: 25 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 37.721 190.875
26 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 37.726 190.850
Row 14: 27 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/Minute Rice Chevrolet 37.732 190.819
28 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 37.781 190.572
Row 15: 29 21 Harrison Burton Ford 20 Year Sr Master Techs Ford 37.891 190.019
30 62 Austin Hill(i) Bennett Transportation/Beard Chevrolet 37.906 189.944
Row 16: 31 7 Corey LaJoie Garner Trucking Chevrolet 37.942 189.763
32 38 Todd Gilliland Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford 38.205 188.457
Row 17: 33 51 Cole Custer(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 38.486 187.081
34 77 Ty Dillon Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet 38.573 186.659
Row 18: 35 42 Josh Berry(i) Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 38.664 186.220
36 15 JJ Yeley(i) Grill Blazers Ford 38.739 185.859
Row 19: 37 78 Josh Bilicki(i) Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 39.667 181.511
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Ford 14 0
Toyota 6 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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