Hendrick star Chase Elliott grabs pole position for Dover Cup Series race after practice and qualifying were canceled

Chase Elliott is starting at the front of the field for the first time this year at Dover Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports star secured the Busch Light Pole Award after the practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday were cancelled due to rain, thus the qualifying metric was used.

Per the NASCAR rule book, the qualifying metric is determined by the previous race finish (70%) and current owner points position (30%). Elliott finished third at Sonoma Raceway last week and ranks second in the standings with 654 points, enough to earn the pole position.

Hendrick Motorports shared the announcement on X and wrote:

“On the pole! @chaseelliott will lead the field to green after practice and qualifying were canceled at Dover.”

Starting alongside Chase Elliott in row one is Chase Briscoe, who finished second at Sonoma and ranks eighth in the standings. Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick are starting in row two, followed by William Byron and Shane van Gisbergen, last week's race winner.

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, a.k.a. Monster Mile, is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET. The race will coincide with the fourth round of the In-Season Challenge, where Elliott lost to John Hunter Nemechek after the second round on the streets of Chicago.

The 29-year-old Dawsonville native is entering the Dover race with one win, seven top-5s, and 11 top-10s. His win came in his home race at Atlanta Motor Speedway after taking the lead from Brad Keselowski on the final lap.

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“We want more wins”: Chase Elliott on winning more races before NASCAR playoffs begin

Despite securing one of the 16 playoff spots, Chase Elliott is eager to win more regular-season races. He looks to continue the momentum of strong finishes from previous race weekends, where he has scored four top-5s in five races.

In an interview ahead of the race at Dover Motor Speedway, the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver said (via Speedway media):

“We want more. We want more wins, more of all of it. We want it all. For us, it’s just about continuing to bring the pace that we’ve brought over the last month and a half or so. I’ve been really pleased with just where we’re at and the things we’re talking about and the things we’re working on and the things we’re doing a lot of really good stuff right now.”

Chase Elliott drives the #9 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports - Source: Imagn

His string of good race results started in Mexico City with a third-place finish, followed by a fifth-place finish at Pocono Raceway and a win at Atlanta. He finished 16th in the Chicago street race after starting at the back for failing to participate in qualifying due to car damage. Then last week, he crossed the line in third at Sonoma Raceway.

In addition to the strong finishes, Elliott has kept his DNF count to zero. The only other full-time driver to do that this year is Tyler Reddick, who currently ranks fourth in the standings with five top-5s and eight top-10s.

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Edited by Rupesh