Christopher Bell to start on pole again in playoff race
Two NASCAR Cup Series playoff races down, two poles for Christopher Bell who will start first Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
Bell earned the pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 with a lap of 29.954 seconds (180.276 MPH average). He also earned the pole for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.
The Kansas pole is the fourth this Cup Series season for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
In the Gen 7 era (2022-present), Bell has earned the most poles of any driver:
- Christopher Bell – 8 poles
- Denny Hamlin – 7
- Joey Logano – 6
- Kyle Larson – 6
- Tyler Reddick – 4
The top 10 qualifiers are as follows (playoff drivers in bold): Bell, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Bubba Wallace
Here is where the eight other playoff drivers will start:
- Joey Logano – 11th
- Brad Keselowski – 12th
- Chris Buescher – 13th
- Denny Hamlin – 14th
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 16th
- Ryan Blaney – 17th
- Kevin Harvick – 20th
- Kyle Busch – 35th
Busch wrecked in practice with a left-rear tire issue. Ty Gibbs had a similar issue and wrecked in practice. Gibbs will start 36th.
Catch the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway just after 3 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast on USA Network, MRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.
Bubba Wallace is the defending winner. Denny Hamlin won at Kansas in the spring.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com