WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It was an awesome night time for NASCAR’s hottest driver.
After setting the quickest time within the remaining four-minute observe session and incomes the highest beginning spot within the first qualifying warmth, Chase Elliott received that warmth wire-to-wire to win the pole place for Sunday’s Prepare dinner Out Conflict at Bowman Grey Stadium.
Elliott described observe place on the tight quarter-mile observe as important to success.
“It’s going to be robust to win from the third or fourth row,” stated Elliott, who will share the entrance row with Warmth 2 winner Chris Buescher, who led each lap of the qualifier and held off new Joe Gibbs Racing rent Chase Briscoe to assert the second beginning spot within the 200-lap exhibition race.
“I believe the primary couple of rows definitely have a large benefit on the remainder of the sphere. Clearly, something can occur. You all have been watching lengthy sufficient to know that something can occur, and I’m effectively conscious of that. However I believe simply in a standard circumstance of individuals not completely crashing one another or no matter—yeah, I definitely would need to be on the primary couple of rows and, fortuitously, we’re. We’ll attempt to make the most of that.”
Warmth 3 and 4 winners Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick will begin from third and fourth on the grid, respectively. To underscore simply how necessary beginning place is, all 4 warmth winners received wire-to-wire after posting the 4 quickest laps within the remaining observe classes to earn their pole positions for the qualifiers.
The highest 5 drivers in every warmth advance to Sunday’s conflict. The remaining 19 drivers will compete for 2 spots in a final likelihood qualifier that precedes Sunday’s foremost occasion. The twenty third spot within the discipline goes to the motive force with the best variety of 2024 championship factors not in any other case certified for the Conflict.
That provisional belongs to Ryan Blaney, who completed tenth after beginning third in a wild first warmth that featured three cautions in 25 laps. Kyle Larson, who began sixth and completed eighth within the second warmth must race his means into the primary occasion from the LCQ.
After battling a unfastened situation in his No. 17 Spherical Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford within the opening eight-minute observe session, Buescher benefited from changes made to the automobile based mostly on appreciable preparation time within the simulator.
“We had the modifications prepared, so after we acquired there and realized we have been simply means too unfastened, we have been in a position to make fast changes to get within the ballpark,” stated Buescher, who had didn’t qualify for the primary occasion within the final three Clashes on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Becoming a member of Elliott in the primary occasion from Warmth 1 have been Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain. Warmth 2 qualifiers included Buescher, Briscoe, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez.
Advancing from Warmth 3 along with Hamlin have been reigning NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, William Byron, Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman. Becoming a member of Reddick from Warmth 4 have been Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland.
