Bell went out halfway through the last round of Saturday’s qualifying session and had the fastest average lap speed of the day at 183.107 mph.
Ross Chastain, who qualified second to last, came closest to beating Bell but ended up second fastest (182.704 mph) and will start alongside him.
This is the first time Bell has gotten the pole position this season and the 11th time in his career. However, he hasn’t won a race starting from pole position yet.
Sunday’s race might be a great chance for him to win because Toyota drivers have won the last four races at Kansas and five out of the last six.
“Qualifying on the intermediate (tracks) has been really good for this team every since the introduction of the Next Gen car,” Bell said. “I can you right now that I live for this moment – when it’s right on the verge of holding your foot down.
“It’s going to be a normal Kansas race. Whenever you get in the race, the pace slows down and the top is obviously the preferred groove here but you’re going to have to move around to pass. You have to be versatile.”
Noah Gragson ended up third, Kyle Larson fourth, and Kyle Busch, who won the pole last week at Dover, rounded out the top five.
The rest of the top 10 are Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, and Chase Briscoe, who hit the wall on his last qualifying attempt.
In the first round of qualifying, Kyle Larson had the fastest lap speed of 183.299 mph. Ty Gibbs was second fastest (183.001 mph), and Chastain was third (182.636 mph).
In the second round, Chase Elliott had the fastest lap speed of 182.106 mph. Chase Briscoe was second fastest (181.020 mph), and Austin Cindric was third (180.844 mph).
Drivers who didn’t make it to the final round included Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., and Tyler Reddick, who had the fastest lap in Saturday’s practice.
During his qualifying attempt, William Byron hit the wall with his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Byron had been second-fastest overall in Saturday’s practice.
