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 |