Elliott again wins the pole for Daytona

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 this coming Sunday.

The 21-year-old Elliott is the son of Hall of Fame driver and two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott. The younger Elliott became the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner a year ago and proved in the No. 24 Chevy that starting first last season was no fluke.

Elliott also made it three straight years for the No. 24 on the pole. Jeff Gordon won the pole in 2015 in his final season before he retired and turned the car over to Elliott.

The rest of the field will be set Thursday in the two qualifying races.

Elliott will try to avoid the disaster that befell him last season. His run then ended in the grass just 19 laps into the race. The front end of his car lifted off the ground, and the rough ride caused enough damage that his car had to be towed to the garage.

“I hope we can just try to get to the end of the 500 next,” Elliott said. “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,” said Earnhardt, making his return to NASCAR after missing the second half of last season with a concussion sustained in a June wreck.

The 42-year-old Earnhardt got married in the offseason, wants a family and said over the weekend that he would 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.

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski wrecked on the final lap Sunday to give Joey Logano the opening he needed to get Ford to victory lane again at a superspeedway.

Logano stole a win in the Clash at Daytona, driving around the crashing leaders to land NASCAR’s first trophy of Speedweeks. It was Ford’s fourth consecutive win at a restrictor-plate track, and with four additional cars in the fold thanks to Stewart-Haas Racing’s move from Chevrolet, the manufacturer known for its blue-oval logo might just be the one to beat heading into the Daytona 500.

Hamlin led much of the 75-lap exhibition event, which had been postponed a day because of rain, but he lost control while trying to block Keselowski just after taking the white flag for the final lap. Logano slid by on the outside as Hamlin and Keselowski slowed.

Kyle Busch finished second, following by Alex Bowman and Danica Patrick.