Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT Outdoors Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on March 29, 2025 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images for NASCAR)

NASCAR News: Bell wins pole for Cook Out 400 at Martinsville

Christopher Bell laid down a fast lap early at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday with a lap that stood up against all comers in qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Cook Out 400 race.

The 17th driver to make a run during time trials, Bell navigated the venerable 0.526-mile track in 19.718 seconds (96.034 mph) and waited as the 21 drivers who followed took their respective shots at the standard he set.

No one was up to the task, and Bell had his first Busch Light pole award of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, his first at Martinsville and the 14th of his career.

Chase Elliott came closest to matching Bell’s lap. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet covered the distance in 19.735 seconds (95.951 mph), just 0.003 seconds faster than teammate and third-place qualifier Alex Bowman (95.937 mph).

Despite turning the second-fastest lap in Saturday afternoon’s practice, Bell wasn’t optimistic about his chances for the pole.

“I was kind of down in the dumps after practice (because of the position in the qualifying order),” Bell said. “But that was definitely the best qualifying session I’ve ever felt out of my car at Martinsville. It was just easy…

“I went out there and the car just had so much grip. I’m really proud of this 20 team. They’ve been working hard on this Martinsville package. We’ll see what happens [Sunday], but obviously, starting up front will be a big help.”

Kyle Larson, last Sunday’s winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway, qualified fourth at 95.854 mph. Bell’s teammate, five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin, was fifth at 95.840 mph.

Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and defending race winner William Byron filled out the rest of the top 10 on the grid.

Casey Mears, whose No. 66 Ford failed inspection twice before qualifying, will start 37th in his first Cup Series race since 2019.

2025 Cook Out 400 Qualifying Results

Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed
1 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Outdoors Toyota 19.718 96.034
2 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 19.735 95.951
3 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 19.738 95.937
4 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 19.755 95.854
5 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 19.758 95.840
6 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/Old El Paso Ford 19.758 95.840
7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 19.762 95.820
8 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 19.766 95.801
9 45 Tyler Reddick Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Toyota 19.780 95.733
10 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 19.782 95.723
11 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 19.805 95.612
12 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet 19.811 95.583
13 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 19.817 95.554
14 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 19.819 95.545
15 71 Michael McDowell Rockingham Speedway Chevrolet 19.833 95.477
16 42 John Hunter Nemechek Family Dollar Toyota 19.844 95.424
17 1 Ross Chastain Choice Privileges Chevrolet 19.850 95.395
18 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 19.858 95.357
19 38 Zane Smith Long John Silver’s Ford 19.866 95.319
20 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Jack Links Ford 19.871 95.295
21 60 Ryan Preece Fastenal Ford 19.884 95.232
22 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 19.890 95.204
23 16 AJ Allmendinger Black’s Tire Chevrolet 19.893 95.189
24 4 Noah Gragson A&W Root Beer Ford 19.896 95.175
25 34 Todd Gilliland Colortech Ford 19.904 95.137
26 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 19.919 95.065
27 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 19.945 94.941
28 10 Ty Dillon Mark III Employee Benefits Chevrolet 19.976 94.794
29 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 19.981 94.770
30 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 19.991 94.723
31 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 19.994 94.708
32 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 20.019 94.590
33 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 20.090 94.256
34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SUNNYD Chevrolet 20.109 94.167
35 35 Riley Herbst # Lucy Toyota 20.118 94.125
36 51 Cody Ware Arby’s Ford 20.268 93.428
37 66 Casey Mears Canter Power Systems Ford 20.583 91.998
38 50 Burt Myers C3 Chevrolet 20.613 91.864