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Jim Utter

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

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

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