Christopher Bell Scores Pole For NASCAR Cup Race at Michigan

Christopher Bell pole Michigan 2023 FireKeepers Casino 400 qualifying recap — Christopher Bell will lead the 37-car field to the green flag in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. Photo Credit: Ben Earp, LAT Images, Courtesy of Toyota Racing

Toyota is picking up right where it left off last year at Michigan International Speedway.

Practice and qualifying are complete for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Christopher Bell, the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry TRD, has scored the pole position for the event with a fast lap of 37.232 sec, which equates to a 193.382 mph average speed around the 2-mile track at Brooklyn, MI.

The quick lap in Round 2 of qualifying secured the second pole of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season for Bell, and it’s the sixth pole of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Bell was close to winning the pole at Michigan last year, but felt he overdrove Turns 3 and 4. This time, he executed the corners perfectly to put together a thrilling qualifying lap.

“I live for those moments in qualifying where it’s right on the edge and full commitment and maximum,” Bell explained after his qualifying run. “Just right on the edge of being able to hold it wide open and it’s awesome. It’s an adrenaline rush. All the intermediates with this car have been that way and it seems like we have excelled at that with this 20 car.”

Ross Chastain will line up alongside Bell on the front row after turning the second-fastest lap in qualifying.

Chastain was 0.027 sec. off of the fast time set by Bell.

Ty Gibbs, and last weekends winner, Chris Buescher, will make up row two on the starting grid for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, while Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott will round out the top-10 starters for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

There were no issues in Saturday’s qualifying session, but Turns 3 and 4 gave a couple of drivers issues in Practice earlier in the afternoon. Notably, Corey Lajoie slapped the wall with his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 4 and spun out.

Video: Corey LaJoie Slaps Wall, Spins in NASCAR Cup Practice at Michigan

Though Bell is on pole, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. led the way in practice for Saturday’s race with a fast lap of 37.496 sec. Three of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota’s had top-five pace in practice while Denny Hamlin’s practice speed had him 16th fastest.

Twenty-one drivers completed more than 10 consecutive laps. Overall, William Byron was the fastest over a 10-lap consecutive run with an average speed of 190.592 mph.

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Taylor Kitchen

Taylor Kitchen found her passion for motorsports after watching a NASCAR Xfinity Series race with her grandma in 2016. The following year, she would attend her first race at Kentucky Speedway. The smell of the gas and roar of the engines filling her ears was enough to solidify her love of the sport. She spent the next few years working her way into the NASCAR online community and researching as much as she could to gain a vast knowledge of the sport. However, something was bothering her. At the time, Taylor struggled to find content within the space that was female-led and came from the perspective of a new fan. This inspired her to create her own media outlet, “Above The Yellow Line” in 2021. On this platform, Taylor writes, films, edits, and markets high-quality videos discussing the latest news and events from the sport. In April of 2022, her company partnered with the prominent NASCAR media outlet TobyChristie.com to provide them social media content and to report on location during select race weekends. Since then, Taylor has been able to help build TobyChristie.com's YouTube audience to well over four thousand subscribers and continues to help expand the company's social reach with her team. 2022 marked a new era for the brand as Taylor expanded ATYL’s capabilities to help various drivers with their communications, public relations, digital media, and marketing. In June of that year, she was hired by ARCA Series Champion, Austin Theriault to work for his driver development program, "AT Racing Development". As the organization's Director of Digital Marketing and Media, she produces and directs her clients tailor-made social media strategies. She also takes part in marketing efforts for her drivers. In May of 2023, Austin Theriault of AT Racing Development partnered with Team Hornaday Development and brought Taylor to the team as their Communications Manager. Working with Ron and Candice Hornaday, Taylor helps direct their drivers social media strategy and PR efforts. She also partakes in company and driver marketing and recruiting efforts