Chase Elliott edges Dale Jr. for Daytona 500 pole

Chase Elliott, last season’s rookie of the year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, won the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500 – the second consecutive 500 pole for Elliott and the third consecutive for Hendrick’s No. 24 team.

Joining Elliott on the front row will be Elliott’s Hendrick teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is returning after missing most of the second half of last season suffering concussion symptoms.

It’s the fifth time in NASCAR history Hendrick Motorsports has claimed the front row for the season-opening Daytona 500.

“This is cool for everybody. The No. 24 team in the past with Jeff (Gordon) and last year with us have proved they are really good at qualifying on these race tracks and that doesn’t happen by just staying the same,” Elliott said.

“They’re always trying to find new things in the body or the engine or whatever it is – proof they are keeping up with the competition and taking the next step. It’s a testament to them.”

Earnhardt went to the top of speed chart as the 11th of the 12 cars to take a run in the second and final round of qualifying with an average lap speed of 192.864 mph.

Only moments later, Elliott made his way through Turns 3 and 4 and edged him with a lap at 192.872 mph.

Brad Keselowski was third, Clint Bowyer was fourth and Martin Truex Jr. was fifth.

Rounding out the final round of 12: Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon.

Round 1

While Fords appeared fast on Saturday’s qualifying practice session, it was a Chevrolet that led the way in the first round.

Elliott, who won the Daytona 500 pole a year ago, topped the chart with an average lap speed of 192.308 mph.

Earnhardt, making his first Cup series start since last July, ended up second fastest in the first round (192.267 mph).

“I liked the speed, for sure. After yesterday, I thought we could use another step in overall speed and I think we found that,” Elliott said after his first-round run. “There were a couple of things on that run that I think could feel better when I go back out.”

Also advancing to the second round were Keselowski, Truex, Kenseth, Hamlin, Bowyer, Newman, Kahne, Harvick and Ty Dillon.

Joey Logano, who won the Daytona Clash earlier Sunday, qualified 17th.

Open teams and inspection issues

Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler ended up with the two fastest speeds among non-charter teams and are locked in next Sunday’s 500 field regardless of their performance in Thursday’s qualifying races.

Timmy Hill, Corey Lajoie, DJ Kennington and Reed Sorenson will be racing in Thursday’s qualifying races for the final two positions in the 40-car field.

A.J. Allmendinger and Erik Jones were the final two cars to clear inspection and their cars were rolled to pit road after the first round of qualifying had already began.

“Definitely didn’t want to cut it that close, but we were trying to get it as good as we can,” Allmendinger said of the inspection issue.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	46.663		192.872
2	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	46.665	0.002	192.864
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	46.707	0.044	192.691
4	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	46.736	0.073	192.571
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	46.800	0.137	192.300
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	46.823	0.160	192.213
7	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	46.829	0.166	192.189
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	46.853	0.190	192.090
9	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	46.871	0.208	192.016
10	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	46.876	0.213	191.996