Chase Elliott made his debut at the
finicky Bowman Gray Stadium when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
did last summer, a battery problem early on helping him sputter his
way through a difficult learning curve on the circuit's trickiest
circuit. This time around – at least so far – nothing's hindering
Elliott's game.
Elliott swept the pair of practices for
the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 on Saturday afternoon, posting the
fastest times in each session. Better yet, Elliott enjoyed a late
draw for qualifying at 6:15 p.m. and will be the 18th of 22 cars to
take time.
“It's going to be so hard (in
qualifying),” the 16-year-old son of Bill Elliott said. “And we
fought this last year, too, when you put on tires it's so slick...
You just do the best with what you've got and really try to hit your
marks.”
Elliott's fastest lap of the day was
14.359 seconds (62.678 mph) on the flat quarter-mile, a speed he
posted on a mock qualifying run to close out final practice. He
improved nearly two-tenths of a second over his top time from the
first 45-minute session.
“I felt like it was pretty good. It
can probably be a little bit better,” Elliott said. “As the night
comes, as race time comes, these guys are all just going to get
better. There's a lot of really talented drivers, crew chiefs and
crew members out here that really know what they're doing and know
what to expect.”
Sergio Pena followed Elliott on the
speed chart, and Corey LaJoie, Carlos Iaconelli and Brandon Gdovic
rounded out the Top-5 times.
It was a rough afternoon for Travis
Pastrana, who was just 16th-fastest in final practice after going to
a backup car following the first practice. Pastrana spun twice in
Turn 3 in the first session, smacking the barrier to cause left front
suspension damage.
“We didn't hit too hard, but instead
of worrying about whether we knocked something a little loose or what
not,” Pastrana said, “the guys just said, 'You know what, let's
just (go to the backup).'”
– TB
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