Chase Elliot Wins His Second Daytona 500 Pole Award

Here’s Why Chase Elliot Winning his Second Daytona 500 Pole is Awesome!

By Kent Whitaker:
Chase Elliot captured the 2017 Daytona 500 pole for the second year in a row as he beat out fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr for the top spot. Winning the pole position twice in a row catapults young Elliot into a category of legendary drivers in the history of NASCAR. It’s something that fans should enjoy seeing – especially those who often cite the “history” of the sport as their reason for loving racing but at the same time disliking the last few years.
One complaint that these fans often raise is that “NASCAR is getting too far away from its roots.” That the cars and drivers no longer have the desire to win or that the rules and designs have ruined races. Everyone can probably name a few reasons that have come up in conversation from “old school” fans who decry the advancement of the sport.
That may have changed a bit after Chase Elliot captured a place in the record books with his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at the Great American Race! Here’s Why Chase Elliot Winning the Daytona 500 Pole is Awesome!
It’s History in the Making
How can race fans complain about the sport when young drivers like Chase Elliot are already making NASCAR history? If it’s history that you want, along with good racing, then this Daytona 500 should be a great one. And that only from watching the ARCA race, the rain delayed Clash race, and qualifying!
Chase Elliot and Dale Earnhardt Jr will lead things off at Daytona to kick off the season. Talk about two legendary father-son names in the sport. Elliot is following in the footsteps of his father, Bill Elliot, as if it were a movie script.
The only way to explain all of this is to take a look at the actual numbers when it comes to Chase Elliot and his second, and back-to-back, pole at the Daytona 500.
Daytona Pole Multiple Winner History
Let’s look at history by the actual stats, courtesy of NASCAR and racingreference.com. Yes – Chase Elliot joined his father as a Daytona 500 pole winner. But, it’s much deeper than that! Here’s how Chase Elliot destroys the argument some fans shovel out about NASCAR history being pushed to the back. Maybe they should quit complaining and start taking note!
Father Son Daytona 500 Pole Winners
Richard Petty and Kyle Petty
Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Bill Elliot and Chase Elliot
Drivers with 4 Daytona 500 Pole Wins
Buddy Baker (1969, 1973, 1979, 1980)
Cale Yarborough (1968, 1970, 1978, 1984)
Bill Elliott (1985, 1986, 1987, 2001)
Drivers with 3 Daytona 500 Pole Wins
Fireball Roberts (1961, 1962, 1963)
Ken Schrader (1988, 1989, 1990)
Dale Jarrett (1995, 2000, 2005)
Drivers with 2 Daytona 500 Pole Wins
Donnie Allison (1975, 1977)
Jimmie Johnson (2002, 2008)
Jeff Gordon (1999, 2015)
Chase Elliott (2016, 2017)
Consecutive Daytona 500 Pole Winners
Fireball Roberts – 3 in a row – (1961, 1962, 1963)
Bill Elliott – 3 in a row – (1985, 1986, 1987)
Ken Schrader – 3 in a row – (1988, 1981, 1990)
Buddy Baker – 2 in a row – (1979-1980)
Chase Elliott – 2 in a row – (2016-2017)
The days of building a car in your garage at the house, winning a race that night, and driving the same vehicle home are long gone. But there is good news. Some consider Dale Earnhardt Jr as being a bridge to the golden years of NASCAR when his dad, and grandfather, circled the tracks. It may be time to start considering that Chase Elliot could be the same type of historic bridge between generations of race fans. In addition, Chase has some impressive friends in the form of Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Watson in Xfinity, and many other up and coming drivers.
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“Kent Whitaker, often called ‘the Deck Chef’ is a sportswriter, culinary writer, and cookbook author with fourteen titles. He covers NASCAR, racing in general, Football, barbecue, grilling, and tailgating. You can visit him on www.thedeckchef.com .”