Christopher Bell won the pole for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday afternoon, posting a lap of 29.491 (183.107 MPH) in the final round to earn his first pole of the 2024 season and the 11th of his Cup career. Bell has now won a pole at Kansas in each of the last three seasons, following up on his previous poles in spring 2022 and fall 2023.
It had initially appeared as though the biggest threats for the pole would be out of the Hendrick Motorsports stable, most notably William Byron who was the fastest car in practice. But on his qualifying lap, Byron washed up the racetrack and hit the wall in turns 1 and 2, ruining his time and relegating him all the way to 36th starting spot for Sunday's race. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson were fastest in their respective qualifying groups, but neither were able to follow up on that speed in the final round.
He kept his foot in it! 😮 pic.twitter.com/QZotg5FHsn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 4, 2024
Noah Gragson continued his hot streak in qualifying, setting a fast lap early in the final round and nearly winning his first Cup pole before being knocked off the top of the board by Bell's lap. Gragson's third place qualifying effort marks a new career-best starting spot for him, bettering his previous mark of fifth set just one week ago at Dover.
Erik Jones was medically cleared to return to racing this week following his back injury at Talladega, but his team elected to sit him an extra week as a precautionary measure while he continues to recover. Corey Heim will make his second straight start in the No. 43 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, qualifying 20th right alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer and team co-owner Jimmie Johnson.
AdventHealth 400 starting lineup
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #10 - Noah Gragson
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #54 - Ty Gibbs
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #4 - Josh Berry (R)
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #84 - Jimmie Johnson
- #43 - Corey Heim
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #71 - Zane Smith (R)
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #7 - Corey LaJoie
- #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #31 - Daniel Hemric
- #33 - Austin Hill
- #51 - Justin Haley
- #24 - William Byron
- #15 - Riley Herbst
- #16 - Derek Kraus