Christopher Bell qualified first for today’s Xfinity Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway (4:46 p.m. ET on NBCSN) with a speed of 189.321 mph.
It is Bell’s fifth pole of the year and the sixth of his career.
"(With) the repave, the way the tires don’t fall off here, I think qualifying means quite a bit about how fast your race car is,” Bell told NBC Sports. “Yesterday in practice I didn’t feel like we were hands down the favorite. This thing’s really fast right now.”
The top five is completed by Shane Lee, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Justin Allgaier.
Matt Tifft made contact with the wall on his first run in Round 2. He jumped into the top 12 on his second run with one minute left in the round, knocking Elliott Sadler to 13th. Sadler was the only playoff driver to not make the final round.
Ross Chastain also made contact with the wall exiting Turn 2. He qualified 23rd.
Ty Majeski got loose, spun and backed into the Turn 2 outside wall five minutes into Round 1.