2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott will begin his first-ever attempt at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona from the pole, as his Action Express Racing No. 31 team won the 100-minute qualifying race on Sunday.
Elliott, who has five wins on road courses in his young NASCAR Cup Series career, did not contribute to the pole-winning finish in the event, as Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani did the driving honors for the No. 31 DPi team.
Former NASCAR racer Juan Pablo Montoya and current NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger are on the same No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi team, which will roll fourth from the grid in next weekend’s Rolex 24.
Montoya is a three-time winner of the Rolex 24, while Allmendinger was part of the winning team in 2012.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will chase the Rolex 24 for the eighth time in his career from the sixth starting spot. Johnson, who retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series action at the end of 2020, and is set for IndyCar action in 2021, was one of the two drivers who played a hand in his team’s qualifying race results.
Johnson’s team will be a familiar number — 48 — and the Cadillac will be sponsored by Ally.
In Johnson’s previous seven starts in the Rolex 24, his team has finished with the second-place finish overall, twice.
All three teams with NASCAR connections are competing in the DPi class and should be in the thick of the battle for the overall win next weekend, barring any mechanical issues or on-track incidents.
