RIDGEWAY, Va. — Chase Elliott said on Friday that any time he can do something right at Martinsville Speedway, it’s a good day.
That made Saturday a good day for the 21-year-old from Dawsonville, Ga. as he scored his third-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole during knockout qualifying for the Alpha Energy Solutions 250.
Elliott toured the 0.526-mile oval in 19.943 seconds (94.951 mph) to top the third and final round, giving his No. 23 Allegiant Airlines / NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Silverado the first pit stall and the top spot on the grid for the start of Saturday afternoon’s race.
“Man, I hope this speed we’ve got holds for tomorrow,” Elliott said after climbing from his truck. “I’ve been trying really hard to get better at this place, and I’m proud of all the effort that these GMS guys have put into making this truck fast. … Hopefully, we can go out later today, do our jobs and finish one spot better here than we did last fall.”
Elliott also won the pole for last fall’s Martinsville Truck race.
GMS Racing swept the front row for the event, with defending Martinsville winner Johnny Sauter leading round two and timing in second-fastest in the final round. He posted a lap of 19.974 seconds (94.803 mph) in the No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet.
Hometown favorite Timothy Peters was third-overall for Red Horse Racing, followed by two-time Truck champion Matt Crafton and Ross Chastain, who carried Bolen Motorsports to their best-ever qualifying effort.
Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Grant Enfinger, Kaz Grala and John Hunter Nemechek filled out the front six rows and all advanced to the final knockout round.
Austin Cindric led the way among drivers who were eliminated in round two, and the young gun will start 13th for Brad Keselowski Racing after a best lap of 20.195 seconds (93.766 mph) in his No. 19 LTi Printing Ford F-150.
Kyle Donahue was a huge surprise in round two, going 14th for the underdog Mittler Brothers team in just his second-ever Truck start after just 14 laps of practice on Friday due to a seat belt issue.
Other notables knocked out in the second session included Ty Dillon (16th), Stewart Friesen (18th) and Joe Nemechek (21st).
Briscoe led the opening round with a lap of 19.977 seconds (94.789 mph), while Caleb Holman was the first driver below the cut line and will start 25th.
The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 gets the green flag at 3 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
Full qualifying results can be viewed on the next page…
