Second-generation racer Chase Elliott has once again shown his prowess for restrictor plate qualifying with pole position at Talladega Superspeedway.
After scoring pole for the Daytona 500 at the start of the season, Elliott put his Hendrick Racing Chevrolet on pole with a time around the 2.66-mile track of 49.704 seconds equating to 310.058km/h (192.661 mph).
The pole came 30 years after Elliott’s father, Bill Elliott, earned the top starting spot at with a lap at 341.550km/h (212.229 mph), before restrictor plates were introduced at the superspeedways.
“This is definitely a special place,” said Elliott.
“It’s cool to get it done today. This is a team effort, and those guys and everybody at the No. 5 and No. 24 shop, in particular, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and the Hendrick engine department and obviously (sponsor) NAPA Auto parts.
“But, man, this is cool. Those guys do such a good job. And as I said in Daytona, this had nothing to do with me. This is the car that we had. This is the same car we had in Daytona. They brought another fast one here.”
Alongside on the front row will be fellow youngster Austin Dillon, while behind will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt Kenseth.
Ty Dillon qualified Tony Stewart’s Chevy in 14th starting spot, but Stewart will start Sunday’s race and will have to drop to the rear for the green flag because of the driver change. The plan is for Stewart, who is still in the midst of recovering from a back injury, to turn the car over to Dillon during the first caution of the race. Stewart will still earn the points for the championship.
Josh Wise was the only driver who failed to make the 40-car field.
VIDEO: Elliott speaks after scoring pole
QUALIFYING: GEICO 500 – Talladega Superspeedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | BEST SPEED | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Chase Elliott |  |
NAPA Auto Parts | 192.661 | 49.704 | Leader |
| 2 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Dow – Energy & Water / Intellifresh | 192.424 | 49.765 | –0.061 |
| 3 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Nationwide | 192.293 | 49.799 | –0.095 |
| 4 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |  |
Dollar General | 192.181 | 49.828 | –0.124 |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s | 192.116 | 49.845 | –0.141 |
| 6 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr |  |
Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion | 192.089 | 49.852 | –0.148 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Miller Lite | 192.008 | 49.873 | –0.169 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Express | 191.954 | 49.887 | –0.183 |
| 9 | 19 | Carl Edwards | |
Arris | 191.819 | 49.922 | –0.218 |
| 10 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Moen / Menards | 191.812 | 49.924 | –0.220 |
| 11 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Farmers Insurance | 191.789 | 49.930 | –0.226 |
| 12 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats | 191.581 | 49.984 | –0.280 |
| 13 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 191.566 | 49.988 | –0.284 |
| 14 | 14 | Ty Dillon | 191.509 | 50.003 | –0.299 | ||
| 14 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Bass Pro Shops | 191.509 | 50.003 | –0.299 |
| 15 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Caterpillar | 191.298 | 50.058 | –0.354 |
| 16 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Ford EcoBoost Ford Fusion | 191.191 | 50.086 | –0.382 |
| 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
Skittles Marvel | 191.164 | 50.093 | –0.389 |
| 18 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Monster Energy | 191.039 | 50.126 | –0.422 |
| 19 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 190.921 | 50.157 | –0.453 |
| 20 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 190.772 | 50.196 | –0.492 |
| 21 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Twisted Tea | 190.730 | 50.207 | –0.503 |
| 22 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
Shell Pennzoil | 190.382 | 50.299 | –0.595 |
| 23 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Fresh From Florida | 190.260 | 50.331 | –0.627 |
| 24 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 190.166 | 50.356 | –0.652 |
| 25 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
Golden Corral Chevrolet | 190.109 | 50.371 | –0.667 |
| 26 | 32 | Bobby Labonte | |
RIMROCK DEVLIN | 189.966 | 50.409 | –0.705 |
| 27 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
Love’s Travel Stops / CSX-Play it Safe | 189.925 | 50.420 | –0.716 |
| 28 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Kroger / Hungry Jack / Crisco | 189.921 | 50.421 | –0.717 |
| 29 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Busch Fishing Chevrolet SS | 189.800 | 50.453 | –0.749 |
| 30 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
McDonald’s | 189.729 | 50.472 | –0.768 |
| 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
Thrivent Financial | 189.519 | 50.528 | –0.824 |
| 32 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
FR8 Auctions | 189.470 | 50.541 | –0.837 |
| 33 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | |
Peak & BlueDEF Toyota Camry | 189.313 | 50.583 | –0.879 |
| 34 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
AccuDoc Solutions | 189.025 | 50.660 | –0.956 |
| 35 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
Dustless Blasting | 189.010 | 50.664 | –0.960 |
| 36 | 98 | Cole Whitt | |
RticCoolers.com | 188.961 | 50.677 | –0.973 |
| 37 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
Aspen Dental | 188.954 | 50.679 | –0.975 |
| 38 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 188.478 | 50.807 | –1.103 |
| 39 | 35 | David Gilliland | |
Shaw’s Southern Belle Seafood | 188.467 | 50.810 | –1.106 |
| 40 | 23 | David Ragan | |
Schluter Systems | 187.636 | 51.035 | –1.331 |
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