Bell wins pole for Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell turned the fastest qualifying lap of 124.781 mph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and will lead the field to green for Sunday's NASCAR Cup race.

JGR swept the front row in Saturday's qualifying session with Bell joined by teammate Martin Truex Jr. Truex hit 124.752 mph in his No. 19 Toyota. But it was Ford drivers that took the next three spots with Aric Almirola followed by Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney.

Bell won his first pole of the season and fifth in 128 career Cup races.

Bell has one win this season and is one of 11 drivers with a spot in NASCAR's playoff field. There are five spots up for grabs with seven races left before the cutoff. Truex posted his eighth top-10 start of 2023 and his 19th in 30 career races at New Hampshire.

Bell earned a playoff spot a year ago when he won at New Hampshire. Bell mastered the track where he won Xfinity Series races in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and was second in the Cup race in 2021.

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