Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start on front row for Daytona 500

It’s the third-straight year the No. 24 car has qualified first for the 500. (Getty)

Chase Elliott is a repeat Daytona 500 pole winner. And he’ll be joined on the front row for the Feb. 26 race by his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Right after Earnhardt Jr. went to the top spot in the final round of Sunday’s qualifying session Elliott, the last driver on the track, topped Junior’s lap to win the pole and guarantee an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row for the 500.

“I think the guys [on the No. 88 team] are a little bit disappointed,” Junior said. “They really wanted to get the pole. I’m disappointed too, but am absolutely thrilled to have an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row. And we’ll work on the balance practice a lot this week and make sure it’s a good handling car for the race.”

Elliott is the first driver to win consecutive poles for the 500 since Ken Schrader won three-straight pole positions in 1988-1990. And while it’s the second-straight pole for Elliott, it’s the third-straight for the No. 24 team. Jeff Gordon qualified first for the 2015 Daytona 500. Elliott replaced Gordon in the No. 24 car in 2016 after Gordon retired.

“This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega,” Elliott said. “But that stuff doesn’t just happen by staying the same as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster; and the engine shop is always finding new things. So, I think that’s just proof that they’re improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive.”

Though Elliott has the top spot, the big storyline entering the 500 will be the presence of the man alongside him. The Daytona 500 will be the first race for Earnhardt Jr. since he ran at Kentucky in July. Junior missed the second half of the 2016 season after suffering symptoms of a concussion from a crash at Michigan in June.

Junior, 42, suffered balance and vision issues during his recovery from at least his second concussion since 2012. He’s entering the final year of his contract with Hendrick and told reporters that he wants to wait a couple months before seriously engaging in extension talks with the team. From NBC:

“I told (team owner) Rick (Hendrick) I’d like to get a couple of months under my belt to get confidence in my health,” he said. “When I got hurt last year and what I saw it put the company through, how I saw it frustrate certain aspects of the company, it put a strain on our relationships. Our (sponsors) were worried about my future.

“Rick and everybody was worried. I don’t want to do that again. So I want to get some races under my belt and get confidence in my health before I can commit to him. I don’t want to make any promises I can’t deliver on, and so once I feel like I think I’m good.”

The front row spots are the only two positions guaranteed for the 500. All other spots will be determined during Thursday night’s Duel qualifying races.

Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan are guaranteed starting spots in the race by being the fastest among teams without a guaranteed starting position.

That means D.J. Kennington, Reed Sorenson, Timmy Hill and Joey Gase will race Thursday night for the final two berths in the Daytona 500.