The relative silence of the air in Dawsonville, Georgia was shattered late Sunday afternoon by the wail of noisy siren.
But don’t be fooled. To the hometown racing fans, that sound is as beautiful as the song of a bluebird.
It was the song of Gordon Pirkle’s “si-reen” mounted on the roof of the famed Dawsonville Pool Room, singing out the news of another page of Dawson County racing history being written, as hometown hero Chase Elliott scored his second straight Daytona 500 pole.
Elliott blasted around the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway with a lap at 46.663, 192.872 mph to knock his teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. off the top spot for next Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season opener.
“This is really cool,” said Elliott after his pole winning run. “I’m just happy for our NAPA team and it’s great to have Napa on board this weekend, and a big thanks to the Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has done a lot of work this off-season. This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega.
“But that stuff doesn’t just happen by staying the same as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster, and the engine shop is always finding new things. So, I think that’s just proof that they’re improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive. I’m happy to be a part of it and hopefully we can run good next Sunday.”
It’s a starting spot that his Hall of Fame father, Bill Elliott, scored four times for the “Great American Race”, including three in a row from 1985 through 1987.
That could be a good omen – two of those years, 1985 and 1987, ended with Daytona 500 wins for the elder Elliott.
The pole also makes Elliott is the fifth driver in history to win back-to-back poles for the 500, and the first since Ken Schrader did it from 1988 through 1990.
It’s also a piece of history for Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports team, as his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, scored his third straight Daytona 500 pole with the No. 24 car, his first coming with Jeff Gordon in 2015.
If you believe in omens, here’s another to look at. Who was the last crew chief to win three Daytona 500 poles?
Chase Elliott’s uncle, Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Ernie Elliott, who scored the feat with his brother Bill from 1985 through 1987.
"That's really cool to me," Chase said. "Somebody told me that a minute ago, and that's pretty neat. I'm happy to have a small part in that for sure. I think that's really cool. To date back, I know how much success they had down here and how much they enjoyed coming and how good Dad was at racing at this place and how good Uncle Ernie is at building motors to this day. It means a lot to me, so that's pretty cool."
On the downside of the numbers game is the fact that it’s been 16 years since a pole sitter went on to win the Daytona 500. The last to do that was NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett in 2000.
Elliott will be joined on the front row by Earnhardt, Jr., who is making his return to competition after sitting out 18 races last season with a concussion.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner turned in a lap in the final round of qualifying of 46.665, 192.864 mph.
“We sure would have liked to have gotten a pole, happy my teammate Chase (Elliott) got the pole, congratulations to the No. 24 guys,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “They just certainly know how to get the job done at these plate tracks for sure. It will make Rick (Hendrick, team owner) happy to have all of the front row, an all Hendrick front row. We are a little disappointed. It would have been nice to get the pole, but it is good to be up front and starting up front for our qualifying race, that will be great.”
Earnhardt and Elliott are the only two locked into next Sunday’s Daytona 500, as the rest of the field will be set in Thursday’s Can-Am Duel qualifying races.
Brad Keselowski’s Ford was third fastest in qualifying, with Clint Bowyer in fourth and Martin Truex, Jr. in fifth.
Defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was sixth fastest, with Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and rookie Ty Dillon rounded out the top 12 qualifiers.
Elliott set the tone early, as he led in the first round of qualifying with a lap of 48.600. From there, Earnhardt, Jr., Keselowski, Truex, Jr. and Kenseth made up the top five, with the top 12 moving on to the final round.
More surprising was who did not make the final round of qualifying. Among those who were on the outside looking in was defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who timed in 14th quick. Joey Logano, who led in final practice on Saturday, won the Advance Auto Parts Clash earlier in the afternoon, but could only muster a 17th place effort in 500 qualifying.
With 42 cars taking time on Sunday, 36 of those are chartered teams that are locked into next weekend’s 500. Of the six teams battling for the four remaining starting spots, only Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler turned in fast enough times to lock themselves into the field.
That means the four teams will have to fight to be among the two highest finishers among non-chartered drivers in their respective qualifying races on Thursday night to make the Daytona 500.
While Elliott can rest easy knowing where he’ll start in next Sunday’s big race, he will still get a chance to see how his car can do in race conditions in his qualifying race on Thursday.
That means there will be at least two more chances for the Dawsonville Pool Room siren to go off in the next week.
