A Big Win For Chase Elliott

The more I reflect on Chase Elliott’s accomplishment Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, the more impressed I am.

Here he is, a bit over 20 years old, a rookie on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase circuit. He carries the weight of the Elliott name – his father Bill is a Hall of Famer and twice won the Daytona 500. And Chase is driving the No. 24 Chevrolet so long associated with Jeff Gordon, now retired.

And what does he do at fabled Daytona in the qualifying round? He wins the pole for The Great American Race. Elliott sped around the 2.5-mile Daytona track in 45.845 seconds (196.314 mph), nipping Matt Kenseth (196.036 mph) by .065 seconds for the top starting spot in the race that kicks off NASCAR’s season.

“This is a very, very cool day,” Elliott said when the qualifying runs were over.

At 20 years, 2 months and 17 days, he is the youngest-ever winner of a Daytona 500 pole. Austin Dillon set that record in 2014 (23 years, 9 months 27 days). If Elliott sweeps to victory in Sunday’s race, he’d be the youngest winner of NASCAR’s crown jewel. The rest of the Daytona 500 field will be filled out by a pair of races on Thursday.

Elliott has been around racing all of his life, but his poise and grace in his first race and under the given circumstances were remarkable, especially with Gordon in the TV booth providing analysis.

Here’s wishing young Chase luck. He might not need it, but he deserves it.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman