NEWTON, Iowa– Christopher Bell wins his first ever NASCAR XFINITY Series pole for the American Ethanol E15 250 present by Enogen at Iowa Speedway Saturday evening.
The 23 year old Oklahoma native won the pole (23.630/133.305) against his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Benjamin. Bell led 99 laps in the Camping World Truck series event Friday night where he finished fifth and has shown speed all throughout the weekend.
This is Bell’s second ever NASCAR XFINITY Series start, with his first being at Charlotte in May where he finished fourth.
“I’m pretty speechless right now, man.” Bell said. “We have such a super fast Toyota Camry. I feel like the driver did a horrible job in all three rounds, I just struggled. I felt like I missed my line every other corner. I actually got on my radio and said there is no way we will get pole with that lap. I think it just goes to show how strong these JGR Camry’s are. My teammate and I are 1-2, so that’s really special. I’m really thankful to be here, excited for tonight and we’re going to try to make the most out of this opportunity.”
Kyle Benjamin slides into the second position (23.632/133.294 mph). This is Benjamin’s third career NXS start, with his other two races coming at Richmond in April and Pocono earlier this month. He finished 32nd and 16th respectively.
Benjamin has scored a win at Iowa before, as he won here in the K&N Pro Series East event back in 2016.
Qualifying in the third position, in a limited time basis is two-time Iowa winner, Sam Hornish Jr. The 2012 championship runner-up in the series looks to make it three wins at the track and make this his own field of dreams.
A pair of JR Motorsports teammates complete the rest of the top five, with points leader Elliott Sadler in fourth and Justin Allgaier in fifth.
Last weekend’s runner-up William Byron qualifies sixth, with Dakota Armstrong, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifftt and Ty Majeski rounding out the rest of the top 10.
Green Flag for the American Ethanol E15 250 is Saturday June 24 at 8:30 pm ET (Fox Sports 1, MRN, Sirius XM).
