Elliott takes astonishing Daytona pole.

One of NASCAR's most popular drivers and Daytona expert Bill Elliott will start the 2001 Daytona 500 from pole position in the brand new Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepid after a sensational qualifying session at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.

Elliott secured his 50th Winston Cup pole position in dramatic fashion, recording a 49.029 second lap for an average speed of just over 183mph.

One of NASCAR's most popular drivers and Daytona expert Bill Elliott will start the 2001 Daytona 500 from pole position in the brand new Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepid after a sensational qualifying session at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.

Elliott secured his 50th Winston Cup pole position in dramatic fashion, recording a 49.029 second lap for an average speed of just over 183mph.

Second on the grid is Hendrick Motorsports driver Jerry Nadeau who was more than two tenths of a second slower than Elliott in his UAW/Delphi Automotive Chevrolet.

Only the top two qualifiers have secured a starting slot in next Sunday's Daytona 500 and Stacy Compton was the unlucky driver pushed down to third overall. Compton and the other 49 drivers who attempted a qualifying run on Saturday will have to wait for Thursday's two Gatorade 125-mile qualifying races that will settle the rest of the field.

Elliott's pole was made even more remarkable by the fact that throughout pre-season testing the Dodge chassis has been about 1.5 miles per hour off the pace of the Ford's, Chevrolet's and Pontiac's that make up most of the Winston Cup field. On Saturday there were four Dodge's in the top ten.

Full report to follow.

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