Bell takes NASCAR Cup pole in Michigan

Christopher Bell earned his sixth career pole on Saturday and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series grid to the green flag on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

Driving the #20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell captured the top spot in time trials with a fast lap of 32.232s around the two-mile (3.21km) speedway in Eastern Michigan. Ross Chastain posted the second fastest lap with a 37.259s lap in the Trackhouse Racing #1.

Bell’s average speed was 193.382mph (311.218km/h), the fastest qualifying speed in NASCAR since the 2020 Daytona 500, which was also the fastest pole run at Michigan since Denny Hamlin went 202.794mph (326.365km/h) in August 2018 in the previous generation of Cup Series car.

Bell was also three miles per hour (4.82km/h) faster than the pole time from last year.

“I feel excellent about what I have for sure,” Bell said. “It has been a pretty smooth Saturday. In practice, it was very good off the truck and fast and balanced. That is what it is all about at Michigan – having the car comfortable and balanced so you can drive as hard as you need to, to create speed as you need to here in Michigan.”

Bell, who spent his formative years driving open-wheel midgets and sprint cars, says he enjoys driving tracks like Michigan that emphasize his dirt background.

“Honestly, I live for those moments in qualifying, where it is right on the edge, full of commitment,” Bell said. “Maximum, just right on the edge of being able to hold it wide open. It’s awesome. It’s an adrenaline rush that I love. All of the intermediate (tracks) with this car have been that way.”

Bell is going to enjoy his track position at the start of the race but isn’t expecting to run away.

“Qualifying only has a slight bearing on the race,” Bell said. “There are so many strategy options, and restarts, and pit stops. You are not just going to be able to go out there and lead 200 laps tomorrow. Last year, I thought my car was certainly capable of winning the race and we put ourselves in position and then I wrecked out.

“This year is more of the same. We’ve got the pieces to do it – we just have to execute tomorrow and see where we stack up.”

Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott completed the top-10.

Time trials immediately followed practice, which was led by Truex, Bell, Byron, Gibbs and Chastain. Byron had the fastest 10 consecutive lap average ahead of Busch, Gibbs, Bell and Truex.

The only incident of the back-to-back sessions involved Corey Lajoie, who slipped in Turn 2 and drifted his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet into the wall.

“We’re on the verge of tire slip every lap,” Lajoie said. “I just overstepped it by a hair. “I have full faith in my guys getting it straight. Our car drives good and I think we fix this thing up and be a little better for tomorrow.”

Cup Series starting lineup

1. Christopher Bell
2. Ross Chastain
3. Ty Gibbs
4. Chris Buescher
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Joey Logano
7. William Byron
8. Kyle Busch
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Chase Elliott
11. Bubba Wallace
12. Brad Keselowski
13. Denny Hamilin
14. Daniel Suarez
15. Tyler Reddick
16. Austin Dillon
17. Kyle Larson
18. Aric Almirola
19. Chase Briscoe
20. Alex Bowman
21. Austin Cindric
22. Kevin Harvick
23. Michael McDowell
24. A.J. Allmendinger
25. Erik Jones
26. Justin Haley
27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
28. Ryan Preece
29. Harrison Burton
30. Austin Hill
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Todd Gilliland
33. Cole Custer
34. Ty Dillon
35. Josh Berry
36. J.J. Yeley
37. Josh Bilicki