DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Christian Eckes is two-for-two in qualifying this week at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

After earning the ARCA Menards Series pole last weekend, the 18-year-old sped to his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series pole in just his fifth series start on Friday evening, placing the No. 51 SiriusXM Toyota Tundra on top of the scoring pylon in advance of the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

Eckes turned a quick lap of 49.287 seconds (182.604 mph) in the final round of knockout qualifying, edging veteran and defending pole winner David Gilliland by .013 of a second for the top honors.

“I felt way more confident out there by myself than I did when our truck was in the draft yesterday,” said Eckes. “I really wasn’t sure where we were going to qualify, and here we are on the pole. I can’t thank Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and all these guys enough. This is a true testament to them.

“At Daytona, the driver really doesn’t do much than hold it wide open, and I definitely did that,” he added. “I can’t wait to race this thing tonight. It’s a lot of fun here in the Truck Series. I’m really ready.”

With his first top qualifying effort in hand, Eckes is hopeful he can flip the script from the ARCA race a week ago, where he finished fourth and watched as teammate Harrison Burton celebrated the victory.

“I need to be on the other side of that draft tonight and be out front,” Eckes told SPEED SPORT prior to driver introductions. “That’s where we’ll hopefully be able to show what we’re made of. I think we have a truck that can win this thing tonight. It’s really fast. It’s just an honor to be here and drive for these guys, though. They’ve been great to me and they deserve a great result tonight.”

Gilliland’s son, Todd Gilliland, timed in third fastest in the final round as part of a Toyota sweep of the top four positions. Harrison Burton, who will drop to the rear after an engine change in practice on Thursday, completed the quartet in fourth.

Grant Enfinger was the fastest Ford driver in fifth, while Sheldon Creed led Chevrolet’s fleet in sixth.

Stewart Friesen, defending champion Brett Moffitt, Clay Greenfield, Austin Hill, Natalie Decker and Austin Wayne Self completed the top 12 who advanced to the final round of qualifying.

Just missing the cut in the first round was rookie Gus Dean, who timed in 13th-fastest (49.998/180.007) with the No. 12 LG/Baker Distributing Services Chevrolet for Young’s Motorsports.

Other notables mired deep in the field are former series champions Matt Crafton (15th) and Johnny Sauter (17th), as well as journeyman drivers Joe Nemechek (19th) and Jordan Anderson (27th).

With 39 trucks entered and only 32 starting spots available, Austin Theriault, Korbin Forrister, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Codie Rohrbaugh, Spencer Davis, Norm Benning and Jason White all failed to qualify.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; Daytona Int’l Speedway; Feb. 15, 2019

1. #51 – Christian Eckes, 49.287 seconds (182.604 mph)
2. #17 – David Gilliland, 49.300 seconds (182.556 mph)
3. #4 – Todd Gilliland, 49.536 seconds (181.686 mph)
4. #18 – Harrison Burton, 49.626 seconds (181.357 mph)
5. #98 – Grant Enfinger, 49.628 seconds (181.349 mph)
6. #2 – Sheldon Creed, 49.719 seconds (181.017 mph)
7. #52 – Stewart Friesen, 49.762 seconds (180.861 mph)
8. #24 – Brett Moffitt, 49.806 seconds (180.701 mph)
9. #68 – Clay Greenfield, 49.813 seconds (180.676 mph)
10. #16 – Austin Hill, 49.865 seconds (180.487 mph)
11. #54 – Natalie Decker, 49.927 seconds (180.263 mph)
12. #22 – Austin Wayne Self, 50.170 seconds (179.390 mph)
13. #12 – Gus Dean, 49.998 seconds, (180.007 mph)
14. #20 – Spencer Boyd, 49.999 seconds (180.004 mph)
15. #88 – Matt Crafton, 50.009 seconds (179.968 mph)
16. #47 – Chris Fontaine, 50.093 seconds (179.666 mph)
17. #13 – Johnny Sauter, 50.145 seconds (179.480 mph)
18. #02 – Tyler Dippel, 50.254 seconds (179.090 mph)
19. #87 – Joe Nemechek, 50.303 seconds (178.916 mph)
20. #42 – Robby Lyons, 50.343 seconds (178.774 mph)
21. #28 – Bryan Dauzat, 50.348 seconds (178.755 mph)
22. #99 – Ben Rhodes, 50.363 seconds (178.702 mph)
23. #45 – Ross Chastain, 50.364 seconds (178.699 mph)
24. #27 – Myatt Snider, 50.371 seconds (178.674 mph)
25. #04 – Cory Roper, 50.400 seconds (178.571 mph)
26. #30 – Brennan Poole, 50.482 seconds (178.281 mph)
27. #3 – Jordan Anderson, 50.493 seconds (178.243 mph)
28. #44 – Timothy Peters, 50.567 seconds (177.982 mph)
29. #63 – Bobby Gerhart, 50.707 seconds (177.490 mph)
30. #8 – Angela Ruch, 50.757 seconds (177.315 mph)
31. #49 – Ray Ciccarelli, 51.885 seconds (173.460 mph)
32. #33 – Josh Reaume, 52.414 seconds (171.710 mph)

DNQ: #92 – Austin Theriault, #7 – Korbin Forrister, #10 – Jennifer Jo Cobb, #9 – Codie Rohrbaugh, #82 – Spencer Davis, #6 – Norm Benning, #34 – Jason White.