LOUDON, N.H.- Chase Elliott’s will be one of three Hendrick Motorsports cars to start inside the top eight for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Elliott will line up second in the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 after posting a lap of 126.922 mph in the final round of group qualifying. William Byron will take the grid sixth in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevy Camaro. Reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team are set to start eighth. Alex Bowman will start 27th in the No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet.
RELATED: Elliott looks to change New Hampshire narrative
"Really proud of our NAPA team today," Elliott told NBC Sports' Steve Letarte after qualifying. "I feel like we’ve learned a couple things. At this point. we just have to make sure we make some good decisions overnight.
"I do think we need to be a little better and I need to work on some things on my end to help create some longevity in our car, too. Proud of the effort. Nice to be on the front row and give us a good pit selection. We’ll go to work all day tomorrow."
RELATED: See this weekend's paint schemes | Fast facts to know for New Hampshire
Martin Truex Jr. grabbed the pole position for Sunday’s race.
Elliott has been on a role over the past month. The 26-year-old has three straight top-two finishes, including victories at Nashville Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also holds the points lead and has five straight races with starting spots on the first two rows.
Byron was the fastest in the group practice sessions at 127.483 mph. The 24-year-old is getting additional track time this weekend with a start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race for JR Motorsports at New Hampshire. Larson came in fourth in practice – the highest driver from the Group B portion of practice – and Elliott finished sixth. Byron and Larson were second and fourth on the 10-lap average chart, respectively.
As a company, Hendrick Motorsports has nine wins at the 1.058-mile track. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each had three victories, while Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne each once for the organization.
Tune into the New Hampshire Cup Series race at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday on USA Network with radio coverage of PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. This race will be the 20th points-paying event of the Cup Series season.