Christopher Bell claims pole position for second straight NASCAR Cup Playoff race
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Christopher Bell earned a second chance on Saturday.
For the second straight NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, Bell will start from the pole position after a blistering lap at 180.276 mph (29.954 seconds) in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Bell beat last Sunday’s Darlington winner Kyle Larson (179.826 mph) by 0.075 seconds to win his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Kansas and the eighth of his career.
After starting from the top spot in last Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500, Bell suffered a litany of issues—from a slow first pit stop to hard contact with the outside wall to a five-car wreck that collected his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota late in the race.
As a result of his 23rd-place finish in the Round of 16 opener, Bell came to Kansas 12th in the Cup standings, just one point ahead of Bubba Wallace in 13th. The pole position at the 1.5-mile speedway gives him a chance at redemption.
“That was a lot of fun,” Bell said. “Qualifying here is very intense. That’s certainly all we had. I felt very good in practice today in race trim. Week after week we come to the race track with cars that are capable of racing for wins…
“(Winning the pole) definitely takes a little bit of pressure off. If you’ve got a fast car, you can just go out there and run your pace. Clean air feels a lot better than being back in the pack.”
Martin Truex Jr. qualified third at 178.767 mph, followed by Chase Elliott (178.648 mph) and Tyler Reddick (178.495 mph).
Bell knew a sub-30-second lap was a possibility after seeing Ross Chastain turn the fastest circuit of the day in the first round of time trials in 29.925 seconds (180.451 mph). Chastain was sixth fastest in the final round at 178.324 mph.
But how does a driver eliminate the sorts of mistakes that cost him dearly in the first Playoff race?
“Controlling what you can control,” Bell said. “I don't know how many people, but (there’s) a handful of people on the team that just have to control what they can control, and I’m a big part of that equation.
“So last week, I made a mistake early in the race that ruined our finish and, yeah, that was me not doing my job, and I'm glad I get another opportunity this week to try.”
Michael McDowell, the only Ford driver to make the final round, will start seventh, with Austin Dillon eighth.
William Byron was ninth fastest in the final round, but he’ll start the race from the rear of the field after his crew made an unapproved adjustment to fix a suspension issue that surfaced during Saturday’s practice.
Wallace will take the green flag from the 10th position.
Playoff driver Kyle Busch will start from the rear of the field for the second straight race after a flat tire sent him into the outside wall during practice, necessitating repairs to his No. 8 Chevrolet, which did not make a qualifying run.
Ty Gibbs suffered a similar fate during practice and will start from the rear in a backup car.
Playoff drivers starting outside the top 10 include: Joey Logano 11th, Brad Keselowski 12th, Chris Buescher 13th, Denny Hamlin 14th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 16th, Ryan Blaney 17th and Kevin Harvick 20th.
Elliott and Dillon are the only drivers in the top 10 not competing for the drivers’ championship, though Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet is running for the owners’ title.
Kansas Speedway
Hollywood Casino 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 9/9/2023 @ 01:59 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Chase Elliott 10/21/18 02:38:02 152.057
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 20 Christopher Bell (P) DEWALT Perform & Protect Toyota 29.954 180.276
2 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 30.029 179.826
Row 2: 3 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pros Shops Toyota 30.207 178.767
4 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 30.227 178.648
Row 3: 5 45 Tyler Reddick (P) MoneyLion Toyota 30.253 178.495
6 1 Ross Chastain (P) Kubota Chevrolet 30.282 178.324
Row 4: 7 34 Michael McDowell (P) FR8Auctions.com Ford 30.291 178.271
8 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pros Shops Chevrolet 30.303 178.200
Row 5: 9 24 William Byron (P) RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 30.375 177.778
10 23 Bubba Wallace (P) Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota 30.436 177.421
Row 6: 11 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 30.397 177.649
12 6 Brad Keselowski (P) BuildSubmarines.com Ford 30.404 177.608
Row 7: 13 17 Chris Buescher (P) Fastenal Ford 30.417 177.532
14 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Yahoo! Toyota 30.421 177.509
Row 8: 15 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway.com Chevrolet 30.426 177.480
16 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) Dillons/NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 30.437 177.416
Row 9: 17 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Wabash Ford 30.451 177.334
18 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 30.458 177.293
Row 10: 19 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 30.469 177.229
20 4 Kevin Harvick (P) SunnyD Ford 30.516 176.956
Row 11: 21 42 Carson Hocevar(i) Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet 30.585 176.557
22 16 AJ Allmendinger Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet 30.587 176.546
Row 12: 23 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 30.622 176.344
24 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 30.655 176.154
Row 13: 25 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 30.692 175.942
26 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 30.711 175.833
Row 14: 27 51 Cole Custer(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 30.724 175.758
28 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 30.756 175.575
Row 15: 29 21 Harrison Burton Menards/MasterForce Ford 30.774 175.473
30 31 Justin Haley Celsius Chevrolet 30.818 175.222
Row 16: 31 15 JJ Yeley(i) Jungle Law Ford 30.889 174.820
32 38 Todd Gilliland Boot Barn Ford 30.893 174.797
Row 17: 33 77 Ty Dillon Raze Tea Chevrolet 30.956 174.441
34 78 Sheldon Creed(i) Whelen Chevrolet 31.165 173.271
Row 18: 35 8 Kyle Busch (P) Casey's General Store Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 0.000 0.000
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 14 0
Toyota 6 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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