Christopher Bell Collects Third Straight Kansas Speedway Pole
Christopher Bell has developed something special throughout his career at Kansas Speedway, which continued Saturday with his triumph in qualifying for the Hollywood Casino 400.
The Norman, Oklahoma-native was the final driver to post a time in the second round of qualifying, displacing teammate Ty Gibbs from the top of the speed charts with a lap of 30.111 seconds (179.336mph).
It’s the 12th NASCAR Cup Series pole of Bell’s career, and his third straight at the 1.5-mile intermediate racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas. Both of the No. 20 team’s poles this season have come at Kansas Speedway.
Ty Gibbs was the quickest of the Group A drivers that advanced to the final round of qualifying, earning him a second-place starting spot. It’s the seventh front-row start of the season for the second-year driver from Joe Gibbs Racing.
Kyle Busch was the highest non-playoff driver in qualifying on Saturday and will start from third place in Sunday’s 400-mile contest. Regular-season champion Tyler Reddick will start alongside Busch in fourth place.
Joey Logano qualified in fifth place, the best run of those out of the Ford Performance camp in his No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. William Byron, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10.
Four of the 12 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, including three from Hendrick Motorsports, failed to advance to the final round of qualifying. Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman will start 11th and 12th, while Chase Elliott will start last after dropping a cylinder during practice.
Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro team will be swapping engines between qualifying and Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, meaning he will have to start at the rear of the field — although he’s scheduled to launch from there anyway.
Austin Cindric was the only playoff driver not from Hendrick Motorsports that failed to make the final round, qualifying 17th.
The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway will take place on Sunday, September 29th at 3:00 pm ET on USA Network. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have the radio broadcast of the event.
Photo Credit: John K Harrelson, LAT Images for Toyota Racing
