CONCORD, N.C. – Christopher Bell raced to the pole position for the Alsco 300 during qualifying on Saturday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Bell, who went out in the closing stages of the single-car session, decimated the rest of the competition with a blistering lap of 29.298 seconds (184.313 mph) in his No. 20 Rheem Toyota.
The former NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion’s time was nearly two tenths of a second quicker than anyone else in the field.
“There was a lot of grip out there during that run,” said Bell. “It won’t be like that at 1 in the afternoon. It’s good news that we hit the setup for 10 in the morning, but hopefully we can be right when it counts.
“I don’t think we’re in position to dominate the race, but I think we’ll have a shot at it at the end.”
Saturday’s pole effort was the ninth of Bell’s Xfinity Series career and his third in 11 races this season.
Joining Bell on the front row for the 200-lap, 300-mile affair at Charlotte will be Cole Custer, who put the No. 00 Thompson Pipe Ford Mustang second-fastest overall with a lap of 29.478 seconds (183.187 mph).
Defending Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Austin Dillon and Brandon Jones completed the top five.
Justin Allgaier starts sixth, followed by Austin Cindric, Michael Annett, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Noah Gragson.
Landon Cassill posted a feel-good qualifying effort of 13th for Morgan Shepherd’s No. 89 team. Shepherd and company have received setup help from Mike Beam and GMS Racing this weekend.
Meanwhile, series regular Justin Haley will roll off 35th after mechanical troubles prevented his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro from making a lap at full speed during qualifying.
“I don’t know exactly what happened,” noted Haley. “I put the car into first gear, and as soon as I rolled out, the right rear just had no bite. I’m assuming the right rear axle broke, but what that really means is our ECR engine actually had too much power there for our qualifying run.
“We’ll take back to the garage and see what happens, but it’s better to have it happen now than later.”
With 40 cars on the grounds for 38 starting spots, Jairo Avila Jr. and Dillon Bassett failed to qualify.
To view full qualifying results, advance to the next page.