After parking it in Victory Lane during both of the NASCAR Xfinity Series events that he entered last season, Christopher Bell is looking to secure his third straight victory in the second-tier series, competing in Saturday’s Sports Clips VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.
The 12-time NASCAR Cup Series winner will have a fantastic opportunity to do just that, after winning the pole for Saturday’s 200-mile event at the iconic racetrack located in Darlington, South Carolina.
Posting a quick time of 29.9211 seconds (164.408mph), the Norman, Oklahoma-native just narrowly defeated Brandon Jones, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, for the top spot on the speed charts, capturing the pole by four one-thousandths of a second.
STARTING LINEUP: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway
It’s the 14th career pole position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Christopher Bell, and his 34th across NASCAR’s top-three divisions. The 30-year-old driver managed to score pole last Fall at Darlington in the Xfinity Series, before bringing his No. 19 Toyota GR Supra home to the win.
Brandon Jones, a former winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway, will start from the outside of the front row for Saturday’s event, while Justin Allgaier will tag along from third place.
After the controversy of last weekend at Martinsville, Taylor Gray will be prepared to take another shot at securing his first NASCAR National Series victory at Darlington, rolling from fourth place in the No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra.
Sam Mayer ended up fifth-quickest in qualifying on Saturday, as the Haas Factory Team driver looks to continue his incredible start to the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign.
Carson Kvapil posted the sixth-best time in qualifying, while fellow Rookie of the Year contender Daniel Dye was seventh. NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott was eighth in the No. 17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Christian Eckes was ninth, followed by Sheldon Creed rounding out the top-10.
After pacing NASCAR Xfinity Series practice earlier on Saturday morning, Nick Sanchez managed to qualify 15th in his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet for Big Machine Racing.
Other notables include: Jesse Love (11th), Sammy Smith (12th), Connor Zilisch (16th), Austin Hill (19th), William Sawalich (20th), and Ross Chastain (27th).
With 40 drivers entered for Saturday’s Sports Clips VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington, a pair of entries had to leave Darlington before the green flag: those being Austin Green (No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing) and Dawson Cram (No. 74 Mike Harmon Racing).
The Sports Clips VFW Help A Hero 200 will take place on Saturday, April 5 at 3:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
