DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Chase Elliott nipped Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final qualifying lap Sunday to win his second straight pole for the Daytona 500.
Elliott turned a lap at 192.872 mph to just edge Earnhardt's speed of 196.864. Elliott and Earnhardt gave Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet a 1-2 front row for NASCAR's biggest race.
The 21-year-old is the son of Hall of Fame driver and two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott. Elliott became the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner a year ago and proved in the No. 24 Chevy staring first last season was no fluke.
The rest of the field will be set Thursday in the two qualifying races.
Earnhardt had the speed beat in his triumphant return to NASCAR after he missed the second half of last season with a concussion. Elliott will lead the field to green and try and avoid the problems that plagued him last season.
He's back out front again and expecting a better finish.
"I hope we can just try to get to the end of the 500, next," Elliott said. "We've obviously got to get through the Duels, first. But, just making it to the end and having yourself in position, obviously we'd love to have a shot to win this thing. It would be great and I think we have a car that can do it."
Elliott's speed earned team owner Rick Hendrick his 11th overall pole in the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports swept the front row for the fifth time.
"My boss man is happy," Earnhardt said. "I just talked to him on the phone, and he's got to be thrilled with having his cars up front."
Earnhardt's sensational return from a lengthy layoff should give the sport the feel-good boost it needed headed into next Sunday's race. Earnhardt, long NASCAR's most popular driver, missed the final 18 races with nausea, vision and balance issues after at least the fifth concussion of his career following a June wreck. He was as sharp as ever in the No. 88 Chevrolet headed into his first race since last July.
The 42-year-old Earnhardt got married in the offseason, wants a family and said over the weekend that he would a like a "couple of months" to see how he feels before deciding to sign a contract extension.
Earnhardt starts second in the first NASCAR race under the Monster Energy sponsorship banner and the Daytona 500 is the first under the new format that divides the race into segments.
Sports on 02/20/2017