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.
