Chase Elliott pips William Byron for Bristol Pole

Chase Elliott led the second straight Hendrick Motorsports Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series sweep of the front row to take the pole for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Ryan Blaney was the dominant force for much of the day and paced the opening practice session along with the two 10-minute opening qualifying rounds.

He set the bar high with a jaw-dropping lap of 14.555 seconds, which broke the previous track record of 14.573 set by Denny Hamlin in 2016.

Elliott responded just a few minutes into Q3 with a lap of 14.568 seconds. His biggest threat came from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who got within .038s of the pole but couldn’t knock Elliott of his perch.

The 23-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia was bullish to take the pole while mastering the tricky nature of the .533-mile short track.

“Every round, I feel like we got tighter,” he said. “We were freeing up as each round went, too. So, I actually thought we got a little behind for that last round. I kind of missed my lap. I didn’t feel like I got a perfect one and I was frustrated because I thought it could have been a little bit better.”

The pole is the fifth of Elliott’s career but his first on a non-restrictor plate track.

“I’ve really been wanting a pole outside of Daytona and Talladega for a long time now,” he said. “So, I feel like I was finally able to contribute from my end a little bit more and get a pole that my team certainly deserves.”

Bryon’s efforts left him on the outside of the front row for the second straight week Blaney settled for third and claimed his first top-five start since his pole at ISM Raceway last month.

Erik Jones claimed his best starting spot this season in fourth and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and last week’s winner Denny Hamlin rounded out a tightly contested top five separated by a mere .113 of a second with the top four eclipsing the track record.

Aric Almirola led a quartet of Ford Mustangs in sixth followed by Joey Logano in seventh, Clint Bowyer in eighth, Paul Menard in ninth and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top ten.

A pair of prominent names missed out of Q3 led by Kevin Harvick in 13th along with seven-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch ending up 17th. Busch’s run marks only the second time he has started outside the top ten at Bristol since 2013.