Chase Elliott tops William Byron for Watkins Glen pole

Chase Elliott put himself in the best position to score two wins in a row at Watkins Glen Interational by taking the pole for tomorrow’s Go Bowling at the Glen.

Elliott, who scored his maiden Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, topped the charts with a lap of 1 minute 9.062 seconds around the 2.45-mile road course. He logged the lap with less than 15 minutes remaining in the opening 25-minute session following a prolonged stoppage for Erik Jones coming to a halt in Turn 1.

The final ten-minute qualifying session began with Elliott’s teammate William Byron, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski taking to the track first.

Elliott opted to repeat his strategy from the first session and made his money lap five minutes into the session. The tactic worked to perfection, and he snagged the pole with a lap of 1:09.287s.

The performance was Elliott’s third pole of the season and the seventh of his five-year career.

“Today here is important to have good pit selection and track position is important,” said the driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. “Just try to have a mistake-free day tomorrow, and keep our NAPA Chevy up front and try to have a good day.

“Qualifying well here is important because the strategy is important. Pitting these cars backwards. You need good pit selection and track position.”

Byron completed an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row with the second quickest lap – his seventh start from the front row this season.

Kyle Busch led a Joe Gibbs Racing lockout of the second row in third ahead of 2017 Watkins Glen race winner Martin Truex, Jr in fourth.

Kyle Larson was the busiest driver in the second session by running three laps and ended up fifth. Pocono race winner Denny Hamlin wound up sixth ahead of Larson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kurt Busch in seventh.

Jimmie Johnson, who has yet to win at Watkins Glen, will line up eighth while rounding out the top ten are Aric Almirola in ninth and Brad Keselowski in tenth.

Erik Jones brought out the lone stoppage of the session when he blew a tyre going into Turn 1 with 15 minutes remaining. His car was towed back to the pit area where Joe Gibbs Racing crew bolted fresh tyres on his No. 20 Toyota Camry. He continued and recovered to log the 14th quickest lap time.