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Chase Elliott takes back-to-back NASCAR Daytona 500 poles

Chase Elliott beat Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr in qualifying for the NASCAR Cup opener to claim back-to-back pole positions for the Daytona 500

Elliott edged Earnhardt by just 0.002 seconds with a time of 46.663s, while Team Penske's Brad Keselowski missed out on pole by 0.046s in third place.

The result means Elliott becomes the first man since Ken Schrader in 1989/90 to take consecutive Daytona 500 poles, while Earnhardt will start his first championship race since his 2016 illness absence from second.

In the now-unique Daytona single-car qualifying format, the top 12 drivers from the first round go through to a pole shootout that determines the front row for next Sunday's race.

The remainder of the 500 grid is set by the results of the two Duel races on Thursday.

On his debut as Tony Stewart's replacement at Stewart-Haas, Clint Bowyer went fourth quickest.

The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas had dominated most of the Clash race earlier in the day, but were not such a factor in qualifying trim - Denny Hamlin the team's top runner in sixth behind Martin Truex Jr.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson missed out on round two qualifying by 0.031s, taking 14th just between Ricky Stenhouse Jr and rookie Daniel Suarez.

Practice pacesetter and Clash race winner Joey Logano was only 17th.

Germain Racing's Ty Dillon was the most notable underdog to reach the second round, taking 12th behind 2015 Cup champion Kyle Busch.

QUALIFYING ROUND 2:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.663s -
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.665s 0.002s
3 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 46.707s 0.044s
4 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.736s 0.073s
5 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 46.800s 0.137s
6 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.823s 0.160s
7 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.829s 0.166s
8 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.853s 0.190s
9 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.871s 0.208s
10 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.876s 0.213s
11 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.932s 0.269s
12 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 47.009s 0.346s

QUALIFYING ROUND ONE:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.800s -
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.810s 0.010s
3 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 46.820s 0.020s
4 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 46.826s 0.026s
5 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.840s 0.040s
6 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.845s 0.045s
7 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.854s 0.054s
8 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.855s 0.055s
9 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.859s 0.059s
10 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.864s 0.064s
11 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.867s 0.067s
12 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 46.869s 0.069s
13 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.874s 0.074s
14 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.900s 0.100s
15 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.905s 0.105s
16 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.923s 0.123s
17 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 46.929s 0.129s
18 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 46.937s 0.137s
19 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.944s 0.144s
20 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 46.950s 0.150s
21 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.989s 0.189s
22 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.017s 0.217s
23 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.023s 0.223s
24 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.042s 0.242s
25 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47.123s 0.323s
26 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.127s 0.327s
27 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.285s 0.485s
28 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.298s 0.498s
29 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 47.355s 0.555s
30 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 47.438s 0.638s
31 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.513s 0.713s
32 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.518s 0.718s
33 Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 47.545s 0.745s
34 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Ford 47.592s 0.792s
35 Michael Waltrip Premium Motorsports Toyota 47.599s 0.799s
36 Elliott Sadler Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 47.730s 0.930s
37 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 48.043s 1.243s
38 D.J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 48.175s 1.375s
39 Joey Gase BK Racing Toyota 48.428s 1.628s
40 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 48.584s 1.784s
41 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 48.710s 1.910s
42 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 48.886s 2.086s

Qualifying sets only the front row for the Daytona 500. All other places set by Duel race results on Thursday.

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