Daytona 500: Chase Elliott wins pole, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets front row start
By Ted Fleming
It will be an all Hendrick Motorsports front row with Thursday’s Can-Am Duels to determine the rest of the field and starting spots for the Daytona 500.
Over the last 14 years of Daytona 500 qualifying, there have been 14 different pole winners so the big question on Sunday would be whether that list would get extended by another year. There were just three drivers who could have ended that streak when the second round began.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was about to win his first since 2011, but there was one more car left to go, and Chase Elliott put his stamp on it by winning his second in a row with a speed of 192.864 mph, besting Junior by 0.042 seconds.
Not only did Elliott go back-to-back, but it was also the third straight pole for the No. 24 team with Jeff Gordon winning it in 2015. Alan Gustafson also notched his third in a row as crew chief.
“Yeah, this is really cool,” Elliott said. “This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega. But that stuff doesn’t just happen by staying the same as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster; and the engine shop is always finding new things. So, I think that’s just proof that they’re improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive. I’m happy to be a part of it and hopefully we can run good next Sunday.”
Earnhardt’s return to the Cup circuit was greeted with a lot of anticipation to see if there were any lingering after-effects from the concussion-like symptoms that knocked him out of the second half of last season, and he did not disappoint being second quickest in round one and repeating it in the next.
“Ain’t much to it,” said Earnhardt after qualifying. “The car does all the work. You just kind of get to the ‑‑ the transitions are kind of important as far as feeding the car into the corner and also running as tight as you can on the apron without bouncing the skirt off the apron or giving up any speed, or just time adding feet to your lap by running high, at least a little bit, can make a big difference. But other than that, the driver, I don’t think he’s feeling like he’s in control of too much. The car is doing most of the work.
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There would be two rounds of front row qualifying with the top dozen advancing to fight it out for the top two spots after a 20-minute break. The drivers who advanced were (in speed order): Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon.
With 36 cars already guaranteed a spot in the Great American Race owning a Charter, it leaves six looking for the remaining four slots. Timmy Hill, Corey Lajoie, DJ Kennington, Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, and Brandan Gaughan needed to get in on speed today or race themselves in on Thursday in the Can-Am Duels.
Of the half-dozen “open” cars, Sadler (188.561 mph) and Gaughan (189.294 mph) had the fastest times in Sunday’s qualifying locking them in. That means the remaining four will battle it out in the Duels with the highest finishers getting the last two slots.
Pit Notes:
In Stewart-Haas Racing’s first qualifying effort with Ford, their new manufacturer, Kurt Busch (22nd) and Danica Patrick (24th) did not advance to the second round.
The qualifying record for the Daytona 500 was set back in 1987 by Bill Elliott with a speed of 210.364 mph, a mark unlikely to be broken. Only one time since then has anyone clocked in at 200-plus, and that was Jeff Gordon at 201.293 mph two years ago.
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Daytona 500 qualifying results
1 – Chase Elliott
2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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3 – Brad Keselowski
4 – Clint Bowyer
5 – Martin Truex Jr.
6 – Denny Hamlin
7 – Kevin Harvick
8 – Kasey Kahne
9 – Matt Kenseth
10 – Ryan Newman
11 – Kyle Busch
12 – Ty Dillon
13 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14 – Jimmie Johnson
15 – Daniel Suarez
16 – Kyle Larson
17 – Joey Logano
18 – Ryan Blaney
19 – Trevor Bayne
20 – Erik Jones
21 – Paul Menard
22 – Kurt Busch
23 – Jamie McMurra
24 – Danica Patrick
25 – Aric Almirola
26 – Austin Dillon
27 – Landon Cassill
28 – AJ Allmendinger
29 – Matt DiBenedetto
30 – Michael McDowell
31 – Chris Buescher
32 – David Ragan
33 – Brendan Gaughan
34 – Cole Whitt
35 – Michael Waltrip
36 – Elliott Sadler
37 – Reed Sorenson
38 – DJ Kennington
39 – Joey Gase
40 – Corey Lajoie
41 – Jeffrey Earnhardt
42 – Timmy Hill
Who do you think will win the Daytona 500?