NASCAR at Daytona 2018 Qualifying Results: Chase Elliott Takes Pole Position

NASCAR's annual trip to Daytona during the first weekend of July got off to a great start for Chase Elliott, who won the pole for the 2018 Coke Zero 400. 

Rain in the area caused a brief delay Friday before qualifying could officially begin. After workers got the track cleared off, Elliott set the pace with a final time of 46.381 seconds. This marks the No. 9 car's first pole of the year. 

Joining Elliott in the front row will be Alex Bowman, who is still in search of his first win on the Monster Energy circuit. 

Here's the full order for Saturday's race, via NASCAR.com:

Row 1: Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman

Row 2: Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson

Row 3: Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

Row 4: Ryan Newman, Michael McDowell

Row 5: Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon

Row 6: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney

Row 7: Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Larson

Row 8: Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan

Row 9: Denny Hamlin, William Byron

Row 10: Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne

Row 11: David Ragan, Bubba Wallace

Row 12: Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger

Row 13: Chris Buescher, Aric Almirola

Row 14: Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne

Row 15: Erik Jones, Paul Menard

Row 16: Matt DiBenedetto, Daniel Suarez

Row 17: Ross Chastain, Jeffrey Earnhardt

Row 18: D.J. Kennington, Joey Gase

Row 19: Landon Cassill, Corey LaJoie 

Row 20: Ray Black II, JJ Yeley

Drivers who won the pole have not found much success at the Coke Zero 400 in recent years. Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015 is the only person to start from the first position since 2011. 

Elliott will be facing additional pressure because he has yet to win a race since joining the Monster Energy circuit in 2015. The 22-year-old has only led eight laps all season and is a disappointing 13th in the points standings after a career-best fifth-place showing in 2017. 

Despite those numbers, it's hardly a surprise Elliott came out on top in qualifying. This marks his third pole win at Daytona. The previous two came at the Daytona 500 in 2016 and 2017, though he finished outside the top 10 in both of those races. 

After winning the pole, Elliott told NBC Sports Network his team made a couple of changes to the car following practice earlier in the day:

Defending champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. put himself in a great position to become the first repeat winner at Daytona since Tony Stewart in 2005-06. He finished with the sixth-fastest time in qualifying and a speed of 192.164 mph. 

Points leader Kyle Busch is starting on the inside of the eighth row. Kevin Harvick, who is tied with Busch for most wins this season (five), is starting next to Stenhouse. 

Another driver who is hoping to get in the win column for the first time this season, Jimmie Johnson had a strong run in qualifying. The No. 48 car will start from the fourth position. He's also looking to end a 40-race winless drought dating back to June 2017. 

The entire 40-car field will race under the bright lights in primetime on Saturday starting at 7 p.m. ET.