Chase Elliott wins pole at Dover
Less than a week after finishing first for the first time in 2019, Chase Elliott is starting first for the second time in 2019.
Elliott posted the fastest speed in NASCAR’s return to single-car qualifying at Dover on Friday and won the pole for Sunday’s race over teammate William Byron. Elliott’s lap of over 165 mph is a track record at Dover. Cars are going faster at the concrete one-mile oval because of added downforce.
Chevrolet drivers swept the top three and took four of the top five spots. Kyle Larson, who flipped on the last lap at Talladega, will start third and Joey Logano is the only non-Chevy in the top five. He’ll start fourth on Sunday. Alex Bowman, who was second to Elliott at Talladega, will start fifth.
Friday’s qualifying session was the first since NASCAR announced earlier in the week that group qualifying was officially over. The sanctioning body axed group qualifying after it became unhappy with the way drivers were trying to post the fastest laps within the rounds.
Starting lineup
1. Chase Elliott
2. William Byron
3. Kyle Larson
4. Joey Logano
5. Alex Bowman
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Aric Almirola
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Martin Truex Jr.
14. Daniel Suarez
15. Erik Jones
16. Austin Dillon
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Paul Menard
19. Kurt Busch
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. Ryan Newman
22. Kyle Busch
23. Daniel Hemric
24. David Ragan
25. Ty Dillon
26. Michael McDowell
27. Bubba Wallace
28. Corey LaJoie
29. Ryan Preece
30. Chris Buescher
31. Landon Cassill
32. Matt Tifft
33. Cody Ware
34. BJ McLeod
35. Quin Houff
36. Ross Chastain
37. Reed Sorenson
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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