Bell, who participated in a Goodyear tire test at the track earlier this season, went out late in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying and his average lap speed of 124.781 mph held up to give him the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race.
Bell’s first victory of the 2022 season came at New Hampshire a year ago after starting fifth.
The pole is his first of the 2023 season and fifth of his career.
“That was tough, man,” Bell said. “We did the tire test in April and it was significantly cooler and the cars had a lot of grip. That was my first time here with the lower downforce package and I was surprised by how much grip we had.
“Compared to July last year to July this year, these things are sliding around like crazy and pretty evil to drive. It was really fun out there and I’m just really proud of this No. 20 group.”
Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., ended up second-fastest (124.752 mph) and will join him on the front row.
The two Toyotas will be followed by three Fords as Aric Almirola was third, Joey Logano fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.
Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
Busch spun around in Turn 1 on his final round qualifying attempt and hit the wall with his No. 8 Chevrolet.
Busch and his Richard Childress Racing team decided to move to a backup car, and he will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.
Kyle Busch SPINS and crashes in qualifying! #NASCAR
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 15, 2023
: @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/Jvkkqm9aS2
Round 1 / Group A
Truex led the way in the first group with an average lap speed of 125.393 mph.
Keselowski ended up a surprising second-fastest (124.744 mph) and Wallace was third (124.609 mph).
Also advancing to the final round were Reddick and Busch, who had hit the wall in Saturday’s practice and made it in as the final car to make a run.
“This place is always really tough,” Busch said. “You’re trying to really tip-toe and skate around here. That’s why it’s hard to pass here.”
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Michael McDowell – who was fastest in Saturday’s practice, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric.
Round 1 / Group B
Logano ended up with the fastest average lap speed in Group B at 125.628 mph.
Almirola was second-fastest (125.195 mph) and Bell – who won this race a year ago – was third (125.187 mph).
Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Byron and Blaney.
Among those who failed to advance were Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez and Kevin Harvick.
Ty Gibbs got loose on his qualifying run and struggled to complete his lap. He will line up 36th in Sunday’s race.
