MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Christopher Bell will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag Sunday afternoon at Martinville Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1).
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the pole with a lap of 19.718 seconds. This is his 14th career pole and his first this season. It is also his first top-10 start in 2025, something he did not expect.
"From the qualifying order, I felt like I didn't go out late enough to have a shot at (the pole)," Bell said during a press conference. "...I definitely expected the track to just continue to improve, and I thought I was just catching it on the front side of starting to improve."
Chase Elliott qualified second with a lap of 19.735 seconds. This is his best starting position of the season, and it surpassed Circuit of the Americas, where he qualified third.
Elliott was followed by Alex Bowman (19.738), Kyle Larson (19.755), Denny Hamlin (19.758), Chris Buescher (19.758), Joey Logano (19.762), Bubba Wallace (19.766), Tyler Reddick (19.780), and William Byron (19.782).
MORE: Christopher Bell wins pole, full starting lineup
Bell, Elliott, Bowman, Larson, and Byron have combined to win five of the last seven races at the Virginia short track. Ryan Blaney, the winner of the last two Martinsville playoff races, qualified 32nd with a lap of 20.019 seconds.
"I give (Blaney) 20 laps until he's in the top 10," Wallace joked Saturday after the qualifying session ended.
Two guest drivers will be in the lineup for Sunday's Cup Series race. Short track veteran Burt Myers will return to the Cup Series lineup for the first time since the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. He will line up 38th after posting a lap of 20.613 seconds.
Casey Mears, the winner of the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, will make his 490th career start at NASCAR's top level and his first since the 2019 Daytona 500. He will line up 37th after posting a lap of 20.583 seconds.