Christopher Bell continued his dominant qualifying streak at Kansas Speedway by claiming his third consecutive pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series, posting a blistering speed of 179.336 mph (30.111 seconds). This achievement marks Bell’s fourth career pole at the track, all secured during the Next Gen era over the last six races at Kansas.
Reflecting on his success, Bell credited his team’s exceptional efforts, stating, “It’s the people that work on this race car that made the statement. Today, we showed up with probably our best Kansas car we’ve ever had. It felt really good in practice, and I felt comfortable driving the car, and they were able to duplicate the qualifying balance.”
Ty Gibbs qualified second with a speed of 179.099 mph, narrowly missing the top spot, while Kyle Busch secured third at 178.642 mph. Tyler Reddick, the defending race winner at Kansas, qualified fourth at 178.767 mph, with Joey Logano completing the top five at 178.024 mph.
William Byron qualified sixth, followed by Ryan Blaney in seventh, and Denny Hamlin in eighth. Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 qualifiers, emphasizing the strong presence of playoff drivers in the top positions.
Several playoff drivers, however, will start further back in the field. Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman qualified 11th and 12th, respectively, while Austin Cindric starts from 17th. Justin Haley, now with Spire Motorsports, qualified 23rd, and Corey LaJoie, who swapped rides with Haley to join Rick Ware Racing, qualified 27th.
Veteran Jimmie Johnson will make his seventh start of the season, qualifying 35th in a third Legacy Motor Club car. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott, battling engine issues throughout practice, qualified last in 38th place. His Hendrick Motorsports team will make an engine change ahead of Sunday’s race.
With Bell on pole and a strong field of contenders behind him, the Hollywood Casino 400 promises to deliver intense competition as the playoff battle heats up at Kansas Speedway.
