(Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS — NASCAR’s newest qualifying king hit the jackpot once again Saturday morning in Las Vegas.
For the fourth time in the last seven races, Christopher Bell will roll off from the top position, giving himself an early advantage as he looks to make the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season.
Bell’s time of 28.980 seconds in the second round was enough for his sixth pole of the season and 10th in the last two years, leading all drivers in the Next Gen era.
“It is more so my team giving me what I need in qualifying,” Bell said in a media availability at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “We’ve done really well. Toyota came out with a different body at the start of 2023 and we kind of lost the handle on our qualifying balance at the beginning of the year, but then in June, July, that midseason, we were able to pick back up on it and we have been qualifying really well ever since. My engineers and crew chief do a great job of getting my balance close, and when my balance is close, I feel good to be able to drive the cars as hard as I can.”
Compared to last season, Bell hasn’t had as flashy of a run through the playoffs. In must-win situations, he conquered the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and Martinsville Speedway to clinch a berth in the Championship 4.
Bell’s lone victory this season came early at Bristol Dirt, but he’s survived with consistency. He kicked off the Round of 12 with a top-five at Texas Motor Speedway and finished with top 15s at Talladega Superspeedway and the ROVAL, two of NASCAR’s most unpredictable tracks.
The 28-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma is hoping to not face another must-win situation come Martinsville Speedway in two weeks.
Christopher Bell waits by his car during Saturday’s qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
“Everything in your career and your life will help you further on down the road,” Bell said. “Certainly, making the final four – it will be a big help if I get back there. I know that from last year, my round of 8 didn’t go well because I wrecked out here and didn’t have a good Miami, but I was still able to win at Martinsville. That will be in the back of my head that it can be done all the way to the last minute. Even on the flip side, Denny Hamlin was in on points at Martinsville, all of the way to the last corner, so fortunately for me, it worked the other way where I was out, and then I was in, in the very end, but you are never safe until that checkered flag falls at Martinsville.
“The Round of 8 – if you are going to make the final four – you are going to have to be racing for wins and winning races. Taking your points there is kind of gone at this point. [Sunday] – we need to go out there and try to win the race, and if it ends in a win, then we are transferred. Then if it doesn’t end in a win, you are looking for a solid points day, no matter what. Running eighth to tenth – your good points days are not going to get you there. You are going to have to be competing for the win and having a great points day.”
Heading into Las Vegas, Bell is eight points below the cutline and sixth on the playoff grid. William Byron is the points leader while Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, two of Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, are second and third respectively.
“I’m sure William [Bryon], Martin [Truex] and Denny [Hamlin] – they may be looking at it differently than I am because I am below the cutline,” Bell explained. “It is a small gap between all of us, it is really up for grabs. After [Sunday], we will understand the picture a little bit more – if we have a Round of 8 winner, if we don’t have a Round of 8 winner, how many points the other guys scored, it changes, year-to-year, round-to-round. Some rounds – if everybody scores really good points, then you have to win if you start below the cutline, but if guys don’t score points, it is completely different. You learn more every race you go by.”
Sunday’s South Point 400 is set for 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Joey Logano, last year’s champion, is the defending winner while Byron won the spring race.
