After securing his second victory of the season last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, Chase Elliot is looking to continue his streak of momentum as the series begins its run to the 2022 Playoffs.
The Dawsonville, Georgia-native captured the pole position for Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 at Road America, posting a time of 134.427 seconds (108.407mph) to narrowly beat Chase Briscoe for the top spot in the second round of qualifying.
Elliott, who triumphed in the series’ return to the 4.048-mile road course last season, notched his second pole of the season, and the 11th of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Prior to Saturday’s qualifying session, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had only secured one pole on a road course, which led to a dominant victory at Watkins Glen in 2019, leading 80 of 90 laps.
Chase Briscoe, who led the NASCAR Cup Series’ sole practice session and was the quickest overall in the first round of qualifying, will start alongside Elliott on Sunday, as he searches for his second win of 2022.
Kyle Larson – who starts on pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Road America — will start in third, with Tyler Reddick, and Austin Cindric rounding out the top five.
Michael McDowell, who has put together an incredible stretch with Front Row Motorsports, will start in sixth, with Sonoma runner-up Chris Buescher in seventh. Alex Bowman, despite some off-track excursions, qualified eighth.
Joey Hand, running the road courses in Rick Ware Racing’s No. 15, qualified in ninth-place, the best start for Rick Ware Racing in their NASCAR Cup Series tenure. The Ford Performance Mustang was also top-10 overall in practice.
Rounding out the top-10 was Cole Custer, who halfway through the season, is still looking for his first top-10 with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Kyle Busch, scheduled to start 13th on Sunday, will have to drop to the rear, as his Joe Gibbs Racing team has elected to change an engine on his Toyota Camry.
The two-time champion was scheduled to be the furthest forward Toyota, as Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, and Christopher Bell, all clocked in directly behind their teammate, 14th through 16th. Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace qualified 22nd and 25th.
Full Starting Lineup / Qualifying Results:
