Christopher Bell earned his third pole of the 2024 season on Saturday with a 185.344mph (29.135s) lap. Driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, he bested 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick by just 0.013s in the final round of qualifying.
“I feel really good,” Bell told NBC. “I feel really comfortable. In practice, I don’t think the pace showed what we had but inside the car, I felt super comfortable. I know we are gonna have a shot at it tomorrow.”
While it’s a great way to start the Round of 8, Bell has also never won a Cup race from pole position before.
“I’ve been in this position many times and obviously, I’ve never won from the pole yet,” said Bell, who just earned his 13th career pole position. “Still waiting to do that, but maybe tomorrow’s the day.”
Reddick will line up alongside with the recently eliminated Alex Bowman in third. Denny Hamlin was fourth and Kyle Larson fifth. Filling out the remainder of the top-ten on the grid: Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, and Joey Logano.
The only two playoff drivers to not advance into the pole round were Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Ryan Blaney, who did not make an attempt after a practice crash. Blaney will start 37th (last) in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford.
Round 1
Thankfully, there were no incidents like Blaney’s in a very clean qualifying session. In the first round, Bell set the pace with a 29.153s lap in Group A. He advanced along with Hamlin, Logano, Gibbs, and Hocevar. Martin Truex Jr. was the first driver to miss out, just 0.009s back of Hocevar.
In Group B, Reddick was quickest at a blistering fast 29.007s lap. He advanced along with Byron, Chastain, Bowman, and Larson. Austin Cindric was the first driver out, 0.077s out.
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