Elliott Sets New Track Record and Wins Dover Pole

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DOVER, DE – RIS – Chase Elliott set a new track record while winning the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Dover International Speedway.  Elliott, last week’s winner at Talladega Superspeedway and the winner last fall at Dover, recorded a lap of 21.692 seconds, 165.960 mph.

Elliott’s lap at the one-mile concrete oval came with a return to single car qualifying after NASCAR ended group qualifying earlier this week, a format that had been in place since the 2014 season. It broke the track record of 164.444 mph set in June 2014 by Brad Keselowski. The top five qualifiers Friday eclipsed the old track record.

William Byron will start second to give Hendrick Motorsports the front row for the fourth times this season.

“Team Hendrick is 1-2, which is awesome,” Elliott said. “Thanks to Chevrolet power and everybody that contributes to our car, they’ve been working hard. Hopefully, we can back it up on Sunday.

“It’s going to be a really tough race so you better eat your Wheaties these next couple days and hydrate because I think Sunday is going to be tough, especially if the sun’s out like it is right now.”

Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer completed the first 10 qualifiers.

Almirola’s car failed pre-qualifying inspection twice. As a result, competition officials ejected car chief Chad Haney, sidelining him for the rest of the race weekend.

Qualifying Round: 1
1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Brakes Chevrolet 21.692 165.960 1 2 0.000 0.000
2 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 21.745 165.555 1 2 0.053 0.053
3 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 21.757 165.464 1 2 0.065 0.012
4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 21.855 164.722 2 2 0.163 0.098
5 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Small Business Chevrolet 21.857 164.707 1 2 0.165 0.002
6 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Ford 21.907 164.331 2 2 0.215 0.050
7 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 21.918 164.249 1 2 0.226 0.011
8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 21.931 164.151 2 2 0.239 0.013
9 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 21.936 164.114 2 2 0.244 0.005
10 14 Clint Bowyer Mobil 1 Ford 21.949 164.017 1 2 0.257 0.013
11 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Duracell Ford 22.008 163.577 1 2 0.316 0.059
12 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 22.039 163.347 2 2 0.347 0.031
13 19 Martin Truex Jr. SiriusXM Toyota 22.055 163.228 1 2 0.363 0.016
14 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 22.073 163.095 1 2 0.381 0.018
15 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 22.086 162.999 1 2 0.394 0.013
16 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 22.090 162.970 1 2 0.398 0.004
17 95 Matt DiBenedetto FDNY Foundation Toyota 22.108 162.837 2 2 0.416 0.018
18 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 22.136 162.631 1 1 0.444 0.028
19 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 22.140 162.602 2 2 0.448 0.004
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Little Hug Ford 22.152 162.514 1 2 0.460 0.012
21 6 Ryan Newman Wyndham Rewards Ford 22.176 162.338 1 2 0.484 0.024
22 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 22.233 161.921 2 2 0.541 0.057
23 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet 22.267 161.674 2 2 0.575 0.034
24 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 22.317 161.312 2 2 0.625 0.050
25 13 Ty Dillon Twisted Tea Chevrolet 22.325 161.254 1 2 0.633 0.008
26 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 22.326 161.247 2 2 0.634 0.001
27 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet 22.419 160.578 1 2 0.727 0.093
28 32 Corey LaJoie CorvetteParts.net Ford 22.572 159.490 1 2 0.880 0.153
29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 22.698 158.604 2 2 1.006 0.126
30 37 Chris Buescher Degree Chevrolet 22.829 157.694 2 2 1.137 0.131
31 00 Landon Cassill(i) KODRA Communications Chevrolet 22.948 156.876 1 2 1.256 0.119
32 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford 23.132 155.629 1 2 1.440 0.184
33 51 Cody Ware(i) Jacob Companies Ford 23.369 154.050 2 2 1.677 0.237
34 52 BJ McLeod(i) RWR Chevrolet 23.384 153.951 2 2 1.692 0.015
35 77 Quin Houff Chevrolet 23.465 153.420 1 2 1.773 0.081
36 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
37 27 * Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0 0 ----- -----
*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 30 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver