Bell Edges Reddick For NASCAR Cup Pole At Kansas

Christopher Bell drives during practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Christopher Bell became his own self-fulfilling prophecy in winning the pole position for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.

“I think it’s a great track for me,” Bell said in a question-and-answer session with reporters before NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. “I got my first Xfinity win here. Cup cars haven’t been great to me here, but I’ve ran really well.

“The top is going to be the place to be. I think everybody knows that. The thing is, as this track ages, it seems like the top gets more and more dominant, and it gets a little tough to pass. So keeping your track position, pit stops and qualifying effort is going to be really important.”

In the first round of qualifying, Bell ran higher on the track than any other driver in Group B and sped to a session-fast time of 30.079 seconds (179.527 mph). In the 10-driver final round, he ran .004 seconds faster, securing his third career pole — all earned this season — with a lap at 179.575 mph.

Tyler Reddick qualified second after observing Bell’s opening run and adjusting to a higher line. Reddick clocked in at 30.192 seconds (178.855 seconds) in the final round and felt he left a little bit of speed on the track.

Kyle Larson (178.772 mph) will start third on Sunday, followed by Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric (178.448 mph) and Kurt Busch (178.359 mph), who was fastest in Saturday’s practice.

Joey Logano, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. did not make qualifying attempts after crashing during practice.

Defending race winner Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex, Jr. and Ryan Blaney will start Sunday’s race from positions six through 10, respectively.

Interestingly, the top three qualifiers on Saturday all come from dirt-track backgrounds, and they all will be fighting for position at the top of the track.

NASCAR Cup Series
Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KS
AdventHealth 400 – May 14, 2022

Saturday’s Qualifying Results

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 30.071 179.575
2. 8 Tyler Reddick BetMGM Chevrolet 30.192 178.855
3. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 30.206 178.772
4. 2 Austin Cindric # Menards/Monster Ford 30.261 178.448
5. 45 Kurt Busch Jordan Brand Toyota 30.276 178.359
6. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crunchy Cookie Toyota 30.340 177.983
7. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 30.355 177.895
8. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 30.411 177.567
9. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 30.606 176.436
10. 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 30.618 176.367
11. 1 Ross Chastain Advent Health Chevrolet 30.513 176.974
12. 14 Chase Briscoe Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford 30.530 176.875
13. 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 30.553 176.742
14. 9 Chase Elliott UniFirst Chevrolet 30.570 176.644
15. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 30.617 176.373
16. 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com/PAG Ford 30.676 176.033
17. 42 Ty Dillon Chevyliners.com Chevrolet 30.692 175.942
18. 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 30.701 175.890
19. 99 Daniel Suarez CommScope Chevrolet 30.706 175.861
20. 7 Corey LaJoie Garner Trucking Inc. Chevrolet 30.743 175.650
21. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road 30.749 175.615
22. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 30.759 175.558
23. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light #ForTheFarmers Ford 30.762 175.541
24. 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 30.822 175.200
25. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 30.885 174.842
26. 21 Harrison Burton # DEX Imaging Ford 30.970 174.362
27. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Diagnostic Imaging Centers Ford 31.013 174.121
28. 16 Noah Gragson(i) Chevrolet Chevrolet 31.457 171.663
29. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 31.467 171.608
30. 6 Brad Keselowski King’s Hawaiian Ford 31.644 170.648
31. 38 Todd Gilliland # First Phase Credit Card Ford 31.701 170.342
32. 78 B.J. McLeod General Formulations Ford 32.096 168.245
33. 77 Josh Bilicki(i) UACC/Support Ukraine Chevrolet 32.106 168.193
34. 22 Joey Logano Verizon 5G Ford 0.000 0.000
35. 17 Chris Buescher Castrol GTX Full Synthetic Ford 0.000 0.000
36. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Dillons/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 0.000 0.000