Bell Rights His Ship With Pole Winning Effort At Michigan

Christopher Bell poses for photos after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Saving his best performance for the last round of qualifying, Christopher Bell sped to the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Bell covered the 2.0-mile distance in 37.232 seconds in Saturday’s money round, translating to a top speed of 193.82 mph — the fastest qualifying lap at any track since the 2020 Daytona 500.

Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was .027 seconds faster than Ross Chastain (193.242 mph). Ty Gibbs, who ran the fastest lap of the day in the first round (37.225 seconds at 193.418 mph) will start third after a final-round lap at 193.024 mph.

The pole-winning performance was a welcome turnaround for Bell, who has finished 18th or worse in four of his last five races.

“This is obviously a very important manufacturer’s race track, but more than that, it’s a big boost for this 20 team,” said Bell, who earned his second pole of the season, his first at Michigan and the sixth of his career.

“We’ve been on the struggle bus a bit lately, and a lot of that’s my doing.”

Chris Buescher, last Sunday’s winner at Richmond raceway, qualified fourth, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., putting three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the top five, as the Toyota drivers positioned themselves to try to break Ford’s eight-race winning streak in the Irish Hills.

The top five qualifiers all came from Group B of the split field. Joey Logano, who led Group A in the first round, backed that up with a sixth-place qualifying effort in the final round. William Byron will start seventh, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott.

Currently 40 points out of the final Playoff position on points, Elliott still believes he’ll have to win one of the next four races to qualify for the postseason.

“My stance has been the same since I got back,” said Elliott, who missed six races because of injury and one under suspension for wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. “I think we need to win.

“So, and like I have said a thousand times since I have been back, I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one in the same. It’s not coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins.”

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Saturday’s Qualifying Results

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 37.232 193.382
2. 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Chevrolet 37.259 193.242
3. 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 37.301 193.024
4. 17 Chris Buescher Castrol Edge Ford 37.321 192.921
5. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 37.372 192.658
6. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 37.380 192.616
7. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 37.479 192.108
8. 8 Kyle Busch Kwik Trip/Kwik Star Chevrolet 37.520 191.898
9. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford 37.544 191.775
10. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 37.548 191.755
11. 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 37.398 192.524
12. 6 Brad Keselowski Nexlizet Ford 37.453 192.241
13. 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota 37.469 192.159
14. 99 Daniel Suarez Worldwide Express Chevrolet 37.479 192.108
15. 45 Tyler Reddick Rocket League Toyota 37.567 191.658
16. 3 Austin Dillon Dow Mobility Science Chevrolet 37.567 191.658
17. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 37.633 191.321
18. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 37.643 191.271
19. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 37.651 191.230
20. 48 Alex Bowman Ally x Detroit Pistons Chevrolet 37.652 191.225
21. 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 37.653 191.220
22. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Peach Ford 37.697 190.997
23. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s/MTS Ford 37.707 190.946
24. 16 A.J. Allmendinger Farmsmart Chevrolet 37.720 190.880
25. 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 37.721 190.875
26. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 37.726 190.850
27. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Minute Rice Chevrolet 37.732 190.819
28. 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 37.781 190.572
29. 21 Harrison Burton Ford 20 Year Sr Master Techs Ford 37.891 190.019
30. 62 Austin Hill(i) Bennett Transportation/Beard Chevrolet 37.906 189.944
31. 7 Corey LaJoie Garner Trucking Chevrolet 37.942 189.763
32. 38 Todd Gilliland Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford 38.205 188.457
33. 51 Cole Custer(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 38.486 187.081
34. 77 Ty Dillon Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet 38.573 186.659
35. 42 Josh Berry(i) Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 38.664 186.220
36. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Grill Blazers Ford 38.739 185.859
37. 78 Josh Bilicki(i) Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 39.667 181.511