For several years, every time NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott won the pole for the Daytona 500, the siren atop the Dawsonville Pool Room in Elliott’s home town would sound off, spreading the news.
On Sunday, it was Elliott’s son that made the siren at the famed Dawsonville, Ga. eatery scream.
Chase Elliott turned a lap at 196.314 mph in his No. 24 NAPA Chevy to score his first pole in his first outing in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car at the Daytona International Speedway.
The 20-year-old NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie becomes the youngest driver in history to earn the right to lead the field down to green in the Daytona 500, slated for next Sunday afternoon.
“It’s such a special day, a great way to start 2016 for our team,” Elliott said. “Daytona 500 qualifying day is such an opportunity for the teams to really, I feel like, show what they’ve done in the off-season, the kind of work ethic they have, the amount of hours, the massaging they put in these racecars to find those extra hundredths and thousandths of a second that are so crucial on qualifying day.
“That’s what it’s all about today. I don’t feel like it’s about me. Nothing special I did to earn it. It’s about those guys, the kind of car they brought to the racetrack. That’s the biggest thing I look at.”
Elliott was third fastest in the first round of qualifying, put turned up the wick when he hit the track in the final round. The only driver to come close to Georgia speedster’s time was two-time Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth, who will start on the outside of the front row after turning in a lap at 196.314 mph.
“It’s funny the way this works,” Kenseth said. “I was coasting around the apron, knew Chase was ahead of me, figured Junior was going to beat me, because he was faster the first round. Thinking maybe doing all that work and qualifying third, might as well be 20th. I was pleasantly surprised when he dropped in right behind us.
“Never qualified in front row here before, so that certainly takes off some pressure for later in the week.”
For a while, it looked like Elliott’s teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., might play the role of spoiler. Earnhardt, Jr. topped the speed charts in the first round of qualifying, but only got as high as third in the final round with a lap at 195.682 mph. Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Only the front two are locked in by Sunday’s qualifying, as Thursday’s twin Can-Am Duel qualifying races will set the rest of the field for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.
For teams who have a charter under NASCAR’s recently announced system, there’s very little pressures moving forward, as 36 teams are guaranteed one of the 40 starting positions no matter what happens. Of those unchartered teams who must race their way in, Ryan Blaney was quickest in the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford.
Blaney turned in the seventh fastest lap in the final round, which should be fast enough to make the Daytona 500 field should his team have to fall back on their qualifying time.
Things were not as happy for two of the four Stewart-Haas Racing teams, however. In post qualifying inspection, the No. 14 of Brian Vickers and the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick saw their times disallowed with what NASCAR officials identified as track bars on the cars not being in compliance.
Meanwhile, Martin Truex, Jr. didn’t even get a chance to get on the track after NASCAR officials found the roof flap on the No. 78 to not be in compliance. His team was unable to fix the problem under the five minute rule and could not take time. Truex, Jr., Vickers and Harvick will have to start at the rear of the field in their qualifying races on Thursday.
WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of Thursday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duel qualifying races from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 6 pm on 102.9 FM.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona 500 Qualifying – Feb. 14, 2016
Sunday’s Qualifying Results
1. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 196.314 mph.
2. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 196.036 mph.
Only the top two are locked into the Daytona 500
3. (88) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 195.682 mph.
4. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 195.207 mph.
5. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 195.118 mph.
6. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 194.839 mph.
7. (21) Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 194.746 mph.
8. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 194.675 mph.
9. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 194.662 mph.
10. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 194.523 mph.
11. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 194.510 mph.
12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 194.460 mph.
13. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 194.250 mph.
14. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 194.104 mph.
15. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 194.099 mph.
16. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 193.936 mph.
17. (95) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 193.936 mph.
18. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 193.878 mph.
19. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 193.753 mph.
20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 193.665 mph.
21. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 193.399 mph.
22. (44) Brian Scott #, Ford, 193.332 mph.
23. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 192.938 mph.
24. (93) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 192.686 mph.
25. (59) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 192.604 mph.
26. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 192.542 mph.
27. (83) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 192.406 mph.
28. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 192.365 mph.
29. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 192.291 mph.
30. (32) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 191.808 mph.
31. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 191.583 mph.
32. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 191.436 mph.
33. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 191.302 mph.
34. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 191.249 mph.
35. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 191.192 mph.
36. (26) Robert Richardson, Jr., Toyota, 190.496 mph.
37. (98) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 190.375 mph.
38. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 189.350 mph.
39. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 189.068 mph.
40. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 187.282 mph.
41. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 181.163 mph.
42. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 0.000 mph.
43. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
44. (14) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
