Brian Scott Leads the Charge of Chevrolet Drivers As He Takes the NASCAR Nationwide Series Pole at Chicagoland

        With a time of 30.370 seconds (177.807 mph), Brian Scott grabbed his second NASCAR Nationwide Series pole of 2014 with a blazing fast speed. Scott, and his Richard Childress Racing teammates, were fast for the first two rounds, but a key final round would decide the polesitter. Erik Jones was the early provisional polesitter in the final round with a fast lap, but Scott quickly jumped ahead of him early in the round. The rest of the field looked to beat the RCR driver, but he remained at the top and took his second career NASCAR Nationwide Series pole at Chicagoland. Scott has picked up the pace and run well this year, but a first win has eluded him thus far. Listen to this statistic, though. In his three previous pole races in the series, Scott has finished inside the top five in all of them. Tonight could be Scott's night to win with only two Sprint Cup drivers in the field. Behind him, three of the four other drivers in the top five are behind the wheel of Chevrolets. Ty Dillon, Scott's teammate, was fastest in the first round, but he settled with a second place starting spot in the final round. Chase Elliott ran fast for the entire session and took a third place finish in his first trip to Chicagoland. Erik Jones was the only non-Chevrolet driver in the top five with his fast Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota starting fourth. Kasey Kahne is the highest starting Cup driver with a fifth place starting spot as he looks to win a second race on the year in the series. The rest of the field behind them is filled with a mix of Toyota drivers, Chevrolet drivers, Ford drivers, and a few sparse Dodge drivers. The first session of knockout qualifying at Chicagoland for the Nationwide Series was a very flying fast session. Drivers were battling hard and the four drivers competing in the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash (Brian Scott, Chris Buescher, Regan Smith, and Elliott Sadler) were looking to out do each other. Tonight, Brian Scott will start the highest of those four. All in all, this session could decide who will take the trophy in tonight's event.

        Ty Dillon was the first driver on track to start the twenty five minute first round. He ran a blistering fast lap to start the round as he jumped to the top of the board. Drivers began to file onto the speedway, but Dillon's lap remained the fastest of the bunch as some drivers were holding back in the first round. Dillon continued to hold station on point as the minutes throughout the event began to click away. About eight minutes into the round, Brendan Gaughan had a little trouble. His car carried up the track exiting turn 4 and he slightly grazed the outside wall. He made it to pit road, but he didn't have too much damage. The team decided to fix the damage a little bit on pit road and start at the back of the field in the event, but Gaughan would continue on in the session. The caution did not wave on the session and it would continue on. With about ten minutes to go, most of the field looked to be in the positions they were in as the top twenty four began to take shape quickly. Drivers still filed onto the track, but the battle to make the top twenty four wouldn't start heating up for a few more minutes. With two minutes left, the battle for the final transfer spot started to heat up. Chad Boat, Eric McClure, David Starr, John Wes Townley, and others looked to move on to the second round. After a shuffle towards the back part of the top twenty four in the final minute, J.J. Yeley took the final transfer spot and Ty Dillon remained the fastest in the round. Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish Jr., Brian Scott, Regan Smith, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Blaney, and others moved on while Eric McClure, David Starr, and others missed the second round. After a rather calm first round, the next two rounds would decide the eventual polesitter. 

         Kyle Larson was the first driver on track for the start of the ten minute second round. He ran a decent lap to start the round as he looked to make the third and final round. Quickly, Brian Scott jumped to the top of the board with a blazing fast lap. The rest of the field ventured onto the speedway, but Scott was way faster than the rest of his competitors. The minutes began to click down in the session as the drivers outside the top twelve looked to battle for the final transfer spot. With about two minutes left, this battle for the twelfth and final transfer spot would heat up. Regan Smith, Ryan Reed, Chris Buescher, and Kasey Kahne were looking to grab the spot with Kahne holding it. Most of these drivers went on track, but as the red and black flag waved over Chicago, Kahne was still holding the twelfth and final transfer spot. Brian Scott remained the fastest at the top of the board. Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Cale Conley, Brendan Gaughan, Trevor Bayne, Kyle Larson, Elliott Sadler, and Chase Elliott  also moved on while Regan Smith, Chris Buescher, Ryan Reed, and others missed the final round. A five minute fight for the pole would decide a pole winner and help a race winner start close to the front.

        Erik Jones was the first driver on track for the five minute final round. He ran the fastest lap of the session and it looked like Jones would be on the verge of his first pole in his first start in the Nationwide Series. A few drivers followed him onto the track, but they fell short. Just a second later, Brian Scott jumped to the provisional pole with a blazing fast lap. A couple drivers came close to his time, but he looked to be untouchable with only a minute and a half remaining. The track stood silent, but it looked like a few drivers were looking to run a lap. Sam Hornish Jr. went out with about thirty seconds remaining, but he didn't make it as the red and black flag waved. Brian Scott was on top of the board and he would take the pole the event. It was Scott's fourth career NASCAR Nationwide Series pole as he will look to win his first race in the series with a great starting spot.

         Early on in his career, Brian Scott looked like a decent driver, but he didn't look like a top notch driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Since the start of last year in the Nationwide Series, when Scott joined Richard Childress Racing, he has looked like a completely different driver. He is a factor in every single race, he is fast in practice, he qualifies near the front, he runs well in the race, and he has been close to winning a couple of events. He already has three top fives this year along with eight top tens and a fifth place spot in the standings, but there is still one thing missing for Scott: a much needed win. He starts from the pole tonight and a win could be in the plans for this young driver tonight. One single win could push him towards the top of the standings and give him a boost as he searches for more wins. The rest of the field will look to keep him from that win. Ty Dillon was blazing fast in the session and he will start second as he looks to win his first career Nationwide Series race. Chase Elliott already has two Nationwide wins, but a third place starting spot could hand him another and move him up slightly in the points. Erik Jones is making his first start in the Nationwide Series, but a fourth place starting spot could give him his first win as well. Kasey Kahne is definitely the most experienced driver in this top five and a fifth place starting spot could hand him another win in the series. The rest of the Nationwide field follows behind this stacked top five and they will look to win in a stand alone event at Chicago. There are many guys who can take the win tonight, but they will have to battle hard to do so and it will be a battle worth watching from start to finish. Will Brian Scott take this pole to his first win, will Ty Dillon win his first Nationwide Series race, will Regan Smith be the highest finishing Dash 4 Cash driver again, or will another driver head to victory lane? We only have to wait a couple hours to find out all these answers and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Brian Scott     30.370 (177.807 mph)
2nd: Ty Dillon     30.398 (177.643 mph)
3rd: Chase Elliott     30.443 (177.381 mph)
4th: Erik Jones     30.453 (177.322 mph)
5th: Kasey Kahne     30.485 (177.136 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Sam Hornish Jr.     30.493 (177.090 mph)
7th: Elliott Sadler    30.503 (177.032 mph)
8th: Ryan Blaney    30.550 (176.759 mph)
11th: Trevor Bayne     30.637 (176.257 mph)
12th: Kyle Larson     30.647 (176.200 mph)
15th: Regan Smith     31.030 (174.025 mph)

DNQs: None





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-18/B
-Image:
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/490612682098098178/photo/1