It didn’t take long for Chase Elliott to find success in the top level of NASCAR. The 2014 XFINITY Series champion and son of 1988 Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott scored his first career pole today with a time of 45.845 and a speed of 196.314 mph. He will lead the field to the green flag for next Sunday’s 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. At 20 years, two months and 17 days, Elliott is the youngest Daytona 500 pole-sitter in NASCAR history.
“This is a very very cool day…it’s nothing special I did,” Elliott said. “The Daytona 500 is about the team and the work they did in the off-season to make this happen.”
He’ll be joined on the front row by Matt Kenseth who posted a time of 45.910 and a speed of 196.036 mph. The age difference between the two drivers on the front row is 23 years.
Both drivers will lead the field to the green flag in their respective Duel races on Thursday night. Every driver outside the first two starters will have to race for their starting spot on Thursday.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five.
Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards and Sprint Unlimited winner Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.
Because Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto were the highest open teams, they can fall back on their speed should they not finish among the top-15 in their respective Duel races. That means, barring they fail tech inspection, they are locked into the Daytona 500. The other six open teams will have to race their way in via the Duel races.
“It is nice to be locked into the race,” said Blaney. “The biggest relief for us is to know you are locked in and are good to be able to race in the 500. That kind of lets us go race on Thursday a little bit more than we would have instead of playing it conservative if we weren’t locked in. It is nice to have such a fast car and be locked into the race. It is a load off our shoulders for sure.”
Martin Truex Jr. didn’t post a time in qualifying because series officials pulled his car off the grid for an issue with his roof flap. As a result, his car was impounded and he’ll start from the rear of the field in the second Duel race.
