BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Saving his best performance for the last round of qualifying, Christopher Bell sped to the pole position for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Bell covered the 2.0-mile distance in 37.232 seconds in Saturday’s money round, translating to a top speed of 193.382 mph -- the fastest qualifying lap at any track since the 2020 Daytona 500.
RELATED: Qualifying results | Weekend schedule: MichiganBell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was 0.027 seconds faster than the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet of Ross Chastain (193.242 mph). Ty Gibbs, who ran the fastest lap of the day in the first round (37.225 seconds at 193.418 mph) will start third after a final-round lap at 193.024 mph.
The pole-winning performance was a welcome turnaround for Bell, who has finished 18th or worse in four of his last five races.
“This is obviously a very important manufacturers race track, but more than that, it’s a big boost for this 20 team,” said Bell, who earned his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Michigan and the sixth of his career.
“We’ve been on the struggle bus a bit lately, and a lot of that’s my doing.”
Chris Buescher, last Sunday’s winner at Richmond raceway, qualified fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., putting three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the top five, as the Toyota drivers positioned themselves to try to break Ford’s eight-race winning streak in the Irish Hills.
MORE: Truex announces 2024 return to Joe Gibbs RacingThe top five qualifiers all came from Group B of the split field. Joey Logano, who led Group A in the first round, backed that up with a sixth-place qualifying effort in the final round. William Byron will start seventh, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott.
Currently 40 points out of the final playoff position on points, Elliott still believes he’ll have to win one of the next four races to qualify for the postseason.
“My stance has been the same since I got back,” said Elliott, who missed six races because of injury and one under suspension for wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. “I think we need to win.
“So, and like I have said a thousand times since I have been back, I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one in the same. It’s not coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins.”
Kevin Harvick, winner of five of the last seven Cup Series races at Michigan, is set to start 22nd in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry, a late substitute for the suspended Noah Gragson, qualified 35th in the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet. Truex fastest in Michigan practice as JGR goes 1-2 Martin Truex Jr. led a 1-2 sweep of the practice leaderboard for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday, putting his No. 19 Toyota atop the speed charts at Michigan International Speedway. Truex, the NASCAR Cup Series' points leader, turned a best lap of 192.020 mph to set the pace at the 2-mile oval. He was just .007 seconds faster than JGR teammate Christopher Bell, who was second-fastest at 191.985 mph in the No. 20 Toyota. MORE: Practice results | What to Watch: Michigan William Byron clocked the third-fastest lap -- 191.729 mph in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He was also fastest in the consecutive 10-lap averages category. Ty Gibbs was fourth-fastest in another JGR entry, just ahead of Ross Chastain rounding out the top five. Corey LaJoie had the only incident of the split 20-minute sessions, losing control of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet through Turns 3 and 4 and scraping the outside retaining wall during the second practice group. His car spun to the apron with slight right-rear damage. Contributing: Staff reports