Christopher Bell scored his third straight NASCAR Cup Series pole position at Kansas Speedway on Saturday as he’ll lead the green flag for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.
Bell wheeled his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a fastest speed of 179.336 mph, edging teammate Ty Gibbs by 0.04 seconds.
Behind the front row, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch slotted in third. He’ll start alongside regular season champion Tyler Reddick in fourth.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano was the first Ford driver in fifth position, while William Byron (sixth), Ryan Blaney (seventh), Denny Hamlin (eighth), Chase Briscoe (ninth) and Daniel Suárez completed the remaining top 10.
“It is nice to start in the top five,” Logano said. “I feel like our car was better today than what we have had here the last couple of years. I am proud of the gains we have made to be in the ballpark. We just need to go out there and score stage points and be solid tomorrow, that is what we need to do. I think we are closer than what we have been here in a long time.
“This has been, maybe, our worst race track. So the fact that we are in the ballpark says a lot.”
Other playoff drivers who qualified outside the first five rows include last week’s winner Kyle Larson (11th), Alex Bowman (12th), Austin Cindric (17th) and Chase Elliott (38th).
Elliott experienced engine issues during qualifying, which pinned the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at the rear of the field.