Christopher Bell claimed his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 29.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a standard practice and qualifying procedure. The field was split into two 25-minute practice sessions. Next, they joined forces to participate in a two-lap qualifying session (impound). The groups and qualifying order were determined by metrics that included 70% based on previous race finish by owner and 30% based on owner points standings, with the best scoring competitors placed in the second group.
Bell was the second-fastest competitor behind Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace in the event’s lone practice session earlier on Saturday. During the qualifying session, he clocked in a pole-winning lap at 96.034 mph in 19.718 seconds during his two-lap session. Bell’s lap, where he was the lone competitor to post a speed at 96 mph, was enough to claim the top-starting spot over Chase Elliott by 0.017 seconds.
Bell, a three-time race winner in 2025, achieved his first series pole at Martinsville Speedway, his first Cup Series pole of the 2025 campaign, and his 14th in NASCAR’s premier series. The pole award was the second of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the third for Toyota.
Amid the excitement of leading the field to the start of Sunday’s main event, Bell will contend for his second series’ victory at Martinsville Speedway. He also highlighted the importance of using the spring event to gain extra momentum before the series’ return to the track in late October for the Playoffs.
“I was, kind of, down in the dumps after practice, but that was definitely the best qualifying session I’ve ever felt out of my car here at Martinsville,” Bell said on Prime Video. “It was just easy. I don’t know. I’ve been really good at qualifying in the 20s and I went out there and the car had so much grip.
“It cut a really good lap. Really proud of everyone on this No. 20 team. They’ve been working hard to improve our Martinsville package. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but regardless, starting upfront is gonna be a huge help…We’re just doing everything that we can to make sure that we’re ready whenever it comes fall time [for the Playoffs].”
Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.951 mph in 19.735 seconds, will start alongside Bell on the front row for Sunday’s main event at Martinsville. This marks the first time in the 2025 campaign where Elliott will start on the front row in a Cup Series event.
“I thought our NAPA Chevy was close,” Elliott said. He continued, “I felt like most guys went fastest on the first one, which told me that I left some out there. I felt like my balance was really good to go fast. I think we might need a little bit for the race, but I thought we had a solid day, overall, and really proud of the effort coming into the weekend. A great car, great prep. Good starting spot. A lot of work to do tomorrow and long ways to go, so we’re ready to get it.”
Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson, teammates to Elliott at Hendrick Motorsports, will occupy the second row in the third- and fourth-starting spots. Denny Hamlin, a five-time Martinsville winner, will start in fifth place.
Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and William Byron, the latter of whom is the reigning spring Martinsville winner, completed the top-10 starting grid.
In addition, the following names that included Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, rookie Riley Herbst, Casey Mears and Burt Myers qualified 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 27th, 29th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 35th, 37th and 38th, respectively. Notably, Justin Haley, who managed to qualify despite having the hood of his car fly up during Saturday’s practice session, qualified in 30th place.
With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all of the competitors made the main event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Christopher Bell, 96.034 mph, 19.718 seconds
2. Chase Elliott, 95.951 mph, 19.735 seconds
3. Alex Bowman, 95.937 mph, 19.738 seconds
4. Kyle Larson, 95.854 mph, 19.755 seconds
5. Denny Hamlin, 95.840 mph, 19.758 seconds
6. Chris Buescher, 95.840 mph, 19.758 seconds
7. Joey Logano, 95.820 mph, 19.762 seconds
8. Bubba Wallace, 95.801 mph, 19.766 seconds
9. Tyler Reddick, 95.733 mph, 19.780 seconds
10. William Byron, 95.723 mph, 19.782 seconds
11. Chase Briscoe, 95.612 mph, 19.805 seconds
12. Kyle Busch, 95.583 mph, 19.811 seconds
13. Ty Gibbs, 95.554 mph, 19.817 seconds
14. Josh Berry, 95.545 mph, 19.819 seconds
15. Michael McDowell, 95.477 mph, 19.833 seconds
16. John Hunter Nemechek, 95.424 mph, 19.844 seconds
17. Ross Chastain, 95.395 mph, 19.850 seconds
18. Austin Dillon, 95.357 mph, 19.858 seconds
19. Zane Smith, 95.319 mph, 19.866 seconds
20. Austin Cindric, 95.295 mph, 19.871 seconds
21. Ryan Preece, 95.232 mph, 19.884 seconds
22. Cole Custer, 95.204 mph, 19.890 seconds
23. AJ Allmendinger, 95.189 mph, 19.893 seconds
24. Noah Gragson, 95.175 mph, 19.896 seconds
25. Todd Gilliland, 95.137 mph, 19.904 seconds
26. Daniel Suarez, 95.065 mph, 19.919 seconds
27. Brad Keselowski, 94.941 mph, 19.945 seconds
28. Ty Dillon, 94.794 mph, 19.976 seconds
29. Carson Hocevar, 94.770 mph, 19.981 seconds
30. Justin Haley, 94.723 mph, 19.991 seconds
31. Erik Jones, 94.708 mph, 19.994 seconds
32. Ryan Blaney, 94.590 mph, 20.019 seconds
33. Shane van Gisbergen, 94.256 mph, 20.090 seconds
34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 94.167 mph, 20.109 seconds
35. Riley Herbst, 94.125 mph, 20.118 seconds
36. Cody Ware, 93.428 mph, 20.268 seconds
37. Casey Mears, 91.998 mph, 20.583 seconds
38. Burt Myers, 91.864 mph, 20.613 seconds
The 2025 Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Sunday, March 30, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
