NASCAR: Christopher Bell Earns Pole at New Hampshire - Full Qualifying Results

Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr swept the front row for Joe Gibbs Racing in qualifying at New Hampshire Speedway. The teammates have had different types of success at Loudon, with Bell being the defending race winner and Truex leading the most laps (916) among drivers that have yet to win on the 1.058-mile oval. It is the first pole of the season for Bell, and the fifth of his career. The pole sitter has only gone on to win once in the last 18 races at New Hampshire.

"That was tough," Bell admitted. "We did the tire test in April and it was significantly cooler and the cars had a lot of grip. That was my first time here with the lower downforce package and I was surprised by how much grip we had. Compared to July last year to July this year, these things are sliding around like crazy and pretty evil to drive. It was really fun out there and I’m just really proud of this No. 20 group."

Former New Hampshire winners Aric Almirola and Joey Logano will start in Row 2 tomorrow, with Joey's teammate Ryan Blaney sharing Row 3 with Tyler Reddick. William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch rounding out the top-ten in qualifying. Busch was the only driver to find the wall on Saturday, and he did it in both rounds. The three-time New Hampshire winner smacked the outside wall in practice, then spun during the final round of qualifying. The RCR team already had replaced the rear toe link, and they will make repairs and start in the back of the field tomorrow.

Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez just missed out on advancing to the final round in qualifying. Kevin Harvick qualified 13th in his final start at New Hampshire, where he has won four times in his career. His 14 top-five and 23 top-ten finishes at Loudon are also the most among all drivers. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson (15th) and Chase Elliott 18th) struggled on Saturday, as did Denny Hamlin, who qualified in the 20th position.

Ryan Newman, who holds the record for most poles (7) at New Hampshire, is making his second start of the season for Rick Ware Racing. The three-time New Hampshire winner starts 33rd tomorrow, alongside teammate Cole Custer, who is making his first Cup start this season. Ty Gibbs was fast in practice but he got extremely loose during his qualifying run and nearly spun. The rookie will start last tomorrow, alongside the team's former driver in Busch. Chevrolet has just one victory (2016) at Loudon in the last 16 races.

Previous New Hampshire winners

2022: Christopher Bell

2021: Aric Almirola

2020: Brad Keselowski

2019: Kevin Harvick

2018: Kevin Harvick

2017: Kyle Busch

2017: Denny Hamlin

2016: Kevin Harvick

2016: Matt Kenseth

2015: Matt Kenseth

2015: Kyle Busch

2014: Joey Logano

2014: Brad Keselowski

2013: Matt Kenseth

2013: Brian Vickers

2012: Denny Hamlin

2012: Kasey Kahne

2011: Tony Stewart

2011: Ryan Newman