Christopher Bell continues to pace the field in NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying. The rookie won the pole award for the Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway of California on Saturday afternoon (March 27), his third pole in five races this season.
“Qualifying’s about speed, and this No. 20 team has had speed,” Bell said to FS1.
Bell’s speed of 181.059 miles per hour was enough to grab the top spot, as he was three-hundredths of a second faster than second-place Joey Logano (180.923 mph).
“When we unloaded yesterday, we were really good, really happen,” Bell said. “I was just little bit loose, and anytime we’d tighten it up and make it more comfortable for me to drive, we’d slow down. We learned something there, and I’m going to have to man up and drive this thing in the race.”
John Hunter Nemechek (179.996 mph), in his second NXS race, qualified third. Cole Custer (179.933 mph) and Daniel Hemric (179.879 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Justin Allgaier, Ryan Reed, Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Elliott Sadler and Kaz Grala took positions 6-12.
Logano (181.520 mph) beat out Bell in the first round of qualifying, and Bell was second. Hemric, Custer and Reed rounded out the top five.
There was one incident in the first round, as Dylan Lupton’s rear end came around on Turn 1 entry and backed into the outside wall.
The green flag for the Roseanne 300 will wave on Saturday evening at 5:18 p.m. ET. FS1 and MRN will broadcast the race.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020. Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.