MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Christopher Bell, who wanted a title at Martinsville Speedway last fall, insisted on a pole for Sunday’s Cup race on the historic track.
Bell won the first pole of the season, with 14th place in his Cup career at 96.034 mph lap. He broke Hendrick Motorsports’ conditions at the top spot in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Hendrick scored three spots with Chase Elliott (95.951 mph), Alex Bowman (95.937) and Kyle Larson (95.854). This is the first time the organization has started three drivers in Martinsville’s top five.
Denny Hamlin (95.840) qualified fifth. Casey Mears, who made his first cup start since the 2019 Daytona 500, came in 37th place. Burt Myers, who competed in the collision, will make his Cup debut in Sunday’s points race. He will start last in a field of 38 cars.
Bell was eliminated from title competition in last year’s playoff cutoff race after NASCAR ruled he had made a safety violation by riding a wall at the end of the final lap.
“I’m certainly not going to forget last year’s race,” Bell said.
Bell’s Paul comes a week after he struggled at Homestead. Bell spun, hit the stretch wall in front of the inside, finishing 29th in what he described as a “just awful” race to NBC Sports.
Bell said on Saturday: “I was mad at myself at Homestead last week. It was off-race for us. We reached the point of team maturity and if we do everything right, race and run at the level we have the ability, we can certainly change the top 15, top 10 finish.
