NASCAR Kansas: Christopher Bell rebounds with Cup pole

Bell rocketed to the top of the chart in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session and won the pole for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway with an average lap speed of 180.276mph.

Bell, 28, also won the pole for last weekend’s race at Darlington but had issues on pit road and ended up with a 23^rd place finish.

The pole is Bell’s fourth of the 2023 season and eighth of his career.

“We got the car to do it [Sunday], that’s for sure,” Bell said. “That was a lot of fun. Qualifying here is very intense. That’s certainly all we had.

“We had a good practice today and race trim is what it’s all about. Week after week we keep coming to the race track with cars capable of racing for wins. We’re ready to put it all together.

“We just have to go out there and run our race. Clear air feels a lot better than being back there in the pack. Hopefully, I got to clean up my part driving. If we put it all together, we’re capable of doing bunches of good things.”

Last weekend’s race winner, Kyle Larson, ended up second (179.826 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. was third (178.767 mph).

Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick – who was fastest in practice – rounded out the top five.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, William Byron and Bubba Wallace.

Driver Info

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	1	29.954		180.276
2	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	1	+0.075	0.075	179.826
3	M. Truex Jr Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	1	+0.253	0.178	178.767
4	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	1	+0.273	0.020	178.648
5	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	1	+0.299	0.026	178.495
6	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	1	+0.328	0.029	178.324
7	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	1	+0.337	0.009	178.271
8	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	1	+0.349	0.012	178.200
9	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	1	+0.421	0.072	177.778
10	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	1	+0.482	0.061	177.421
View full results

Round 1/Group A

Reddick replicated his speed from practice on Saturday by leading the way in Group A with an average lap speed of 178.814 mph.

Wallace was second fastest (178.719 mph) and Byron recovered from his steering issues in practice to post the third-best speed (178.571 mph).

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Truex and Elliott.

Among those who failed to move on were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick – all playoff drivers.

Driver Info

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	1	30.199		178.814
2	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	1	+0.016	0.016	178.719
3	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	1	+0.041	0.025	178.571
4	M. Truex Jr Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	1	+0.176	0.135	177.778
5	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	1	+0.182	0.006	177.743
6	R. Stenhouse Jr JTG Daugherty Racing	47	Chevrolet	1	+0.238	0.056	177.416
7	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	1	+0.252	0.014	177.334
8	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Chevrolet	1	+0.270	0.018	177.229
9	K. Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing	4	Ford	1	+0.317	0.047	176.956
10	C. Hocevar Legacy Motor Club	42	Chevrolet	1	+0.386	0.069	176.557
11	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	1	+0.423	0.037	176.344
12	A. Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing	10	Ford	1	+0.493	0.070	175.942
13	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14	Ford	1	+0.512	0.019	175.833
14	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	1	+0.575	0.063	175.473
15	J. Haley Kaulig Racing	31	Chevrolet	1	+0.619	0.044	175.222
16	J. Yeley Rick Ware Racing	15	Ford	1	+0.690	0.071	174.820
17	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	1	+0.694	0.004	174.797
18	S. Creed Live Fast Motorsports	78	Chevrolet	1	+0.966	0.272	173.271
View full results

Round 1/Group B

Chastain surprised by leading Group B with the fastest average lap speed of the day so far (180.451 mph).

Bell was second quick (179.247 mph) while Larson was third (179.033 mph).

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying from Group B were McDowell and Austin Dillon.

Among those who failed to move on were Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher – all playoff drivers.

Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch, who both hit the wall in practice, did not attempt to qualify.

Driver Info

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	1	29.925		180.451
2	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	1	+0.201	0.201	179.247
3	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	1	+0.237	0.036	179.033
4	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	1	+0.250	0.013	178.956
5	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	1	+0.328	0.078	178.495
6	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	1	+0.472	0.144	177.649
7	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	1	+0.479	0.007	177.608
8	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	1	+0.492	0.013	177.532
9	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	1	+0.496	0.004	177.509
10	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99	Chevrolet	1	+0.501	0.005	177.480
11	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	1	+0.533	0.032	177.293
12	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	1	+0.662	0.129	176.546
13	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	1	+0.730	0.068	176.154
14	C. Custer Rick Ware Racing	51	Ford	1	+0.799	0.069	175.758
15	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41	Ford	1	+0.831	0.032	175.575
16	T. Dillon Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	1	+1.031	0.200	174.441
17	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	0
18	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8	Chevrolet	0
View full results

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