WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron swept the front row in Saturday evening's qualifying session at Watkins Glen International.
Elliott, who returns to the site of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, captured the pole position and became the youngest driver to win a Cup Series pole at the New York-based road course.
It marked his third pole of the season, joining his Bristol and Dover poles from earlier this year, and seventh of his career.
“Our NAPA Chevy is fast, which is nice,” Elliott said. “It cooled off a lot, and the track picked up a lot of pace from practice. So, just tried to find the limits of all that. There were a couple of places where I thought I could get more, but you always want to get more!
“Qualifying well here is important because the strategy is important. You need good pit selection and track position. This is a great result for our NAPA Chevy team.”
Teammate Byron posted the second-fastest lap in Saturday’s time trial session, scoring his eighth front-row start this season.
Hendrick Motorsports has now swept the front row five times in 2019 and for the second time at Watkins Glen. The organization has now amassed 222 poles all-time and seven poles at the 11-turn road course.
Jimmie Johnson was the next highest qualifier of the Hendrick Motorsports teammates, earning an eighth-place starting position. Alex Bowman will take the green flag from 17th.
The starting grid will be made official following pre-race inspection on Sunday.
Be sure to catch all the road course action tomorrow, Aug. 4, on NBCSN at 3 p.m. ET.