Elliott, Earnhardt will start 1-2 in Daytona 500
The two should give the sagging series a boost this week.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — It’s impossible to tell the history of NASCAR without mentioning Elliott and Earnhardt.
As the series shifts into a new era, those distinguished names are out front again and will give the st ar t of the Daytona 500 a throwback feel.
Chase El l i ot t a nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. — teammates and sons of Hall of Fame drivers — will start 1-2 and should give a sagging series a sorely needed boost this week headed into its marquee event.
Elliott nipped Earnhardt 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 192.864 and become the first repeat pole winner in 27 years.
“I don’t really care who it is. I’m not going to feel bad about beating somebody,” Elliott said. “Dale’s a good guy. I’m happy to share the front row with him. Happier to beat him.”
Earnhardt, long NASCAR’s most popular driver, had the speed to beat in his triumphant return after missing the second half of last season with a concussion. He 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.
“Ain’t much to it. The car does all the work ,” he said.
Elliott and Earnhardt gave Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet a 1-2 front row for the fifth time in the Daytona 500.
Elliott, the 21-year-old son of Hall of Fame driver and two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott, became the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner a year ago and proved in the No. 24 Chevy 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 lead the field to green and try and avoid the problems that spoiled his Daytona 500 debut.
Elliott’s run at a Daytona 5 0 0 v i c t o r y l a s t s e a s o n 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.
Logano steals win: The real clash at Daytona came when Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski wrecked on the final lap.
That was just the opening Joey Logano needed to get Ford to victory lane again at a superspeedway.
Logano stole a win in the Clash at Daytona on Sunday, 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.
Mats Zuccarello scored a third-period goal and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves as New York won its fifth in a row at home. Ryan McDonagh also scored for New York. Alex Ovechkin scoredl for Washington.
Tomas Tatar and Thomas Vanek scored early third-period goals for Detroit. Nick Jensen and Steve Ott also scored and Luke Glendening added an empty-netter for the Red Wings, who completed a weekend sweep of powerhouses Washington and Pittsburgh.
Josh Morrissey scored early in the third period to give Winnipeg a two-goal lead as the Jets held off Ottawa. Morrissey made it 3-1 at 2:33 when his wrist shot from the blue line eluded Senators goalie Mike Condon.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist to lead Chicago. Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews had second-period goals for Chicago, which won for the seventh time in eight games. The Sabres were trying for their first four-game win streak since December 2014.
Ryan Strome had two goals and an assist to lead New York. John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Casey Cizikas and Jason Chimera also scored to help the Islanders improve to 9-0-2 in their last 11 at home. Taylor Hall had a goal and two assists for the Devils.
Mattias Ekholm snapped a tie at 3 by scoring midway through the third period to lift Nashville. Zach Werenski had a goal and two assists for Columbus, which had a two-game win streak snapped.
Curtis McElhinney made 37 saves for his first shutout since January 2014, and Connor Brown scored twice for Toronto. Auston Matthews scored his 28th goal on an acrobatic backhander.
Jonathan Drouin’s goal 2:27 into overtime lifted Tampa Bay. Matt Duchene’s goal with 42 seconds left in regulation tied it for Colorado.
Brad Marchand scored on a breakaway with 2:24 left in overtime to lead Boston, which improved to 4-0 under interim coach Bruce Cassidy.
John Gibson stopped 24 shots for the shutout, and Josh Manson scored in the second period as Anaheim handed Los Angeles its third straight loss.
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