For the fourth consecutive year, a Chevrolet SS will lead the field to the green flag for the season-opening Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. This year, Rookie of the Year contender, Chase Elliott, put the Bowtie Brand in the top spot for the Great American Race with a lap of 45.845 seconds/ 196.314 mph in his No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet SS.

“This is a very, very cool day,” said Elliott.  “I don’t know that this opportunity has sunk in yet, much less sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500. So this is very cool. I think the big thing is just the team and the Daytona 500 qualifying is about the team guys and the effort they put into these cars and it’s nothing special I did, it’s really what kind of work they did this off-season to make it happen.  Jeff (Gordon) knows all about that and I just wanted to give a big thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and all of our partners at HMS on this No. 24 Chevrolet. This is very special and a great way to start the season.”

Elliott becomes the sixth rookie to win the pole for the Daytona 500 and the youngest at 20 years, two months and 20 days of age.  This is the third time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history that the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet SS will start from the first starting position for the Daytona 500.

Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, is celebrating his 50th Anniversary in motorsports. He held a Q&A session as part of the annual Charlotte Media Tour to talk about his career and other topics.

ROGER PENSKE, Owner, Team Penske – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN LOOKING AT 50 YEARS IN MOTORSPORTS? “I think about all the great people that have worked for the company and have driven these race cars. We’ve had 85 drivers in our 430 wins and, to me, it’s all about those guys that have put their necks on the line and the crew chiefs. I think tonight at our 50th Anniversary we’ll have 3,200 years of service at Penske Racing represented, so that, to me, is low turnover and great results.”

IS THERE A MOMENT THAT IS QUINTESSENTIAL OF TEAM PENSKE OVER THOSE 50 YEARS? “You have to think about the first time we won the Indy 500. That’s pretty special when you think about 1972, but each one of those victories – the 16 that we’ve had – are something special, the Sprint Cup championship, the Sebring 12-Hour race, and just on and on and on. The Daytona 500s. I don’t really have a favorite because each time we win that’s my favorite day because, as I said to someone else, that’s my fishing trip on the weekends when I go to the races.”

HOW SPECIAL IS THE DAYTONA 500 IN YOUR GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS? “When you think about Daytona my first entry as a car owner was back in the early sixties with a Corvette at Daytona for the 24 Hours and we won in class, if you can believe it. I remember, I think the sponsorship was $2500, so to think you were there in that class win with a Corvette and coming back and winning both with Ryan and Joey was something special because it means so much to see what Daytona means to NASCAR.”

History is repeating itself when it comes to preparing the new NASCAR Fusion for its competition debut in February at Daytona Speedweeks.

Much like three years ago, when NASCAR allowed manufacturers to include more brand-specific characteristics, Ford once again used the talents of its designers to ensure the same eye-catching components on the 2017 Ford Fusion production car are included on the new racing version. This latest iteration marks the third major body change for Fusion, and represents another step toward keeping “stock” a relative part of stock car racing.

The result of the efforts of designers and engineers is an aggressive-looking new race car capable of producing 750 horsepower at 9,000 rpm under the current rules package.