A new Elliott turning heads

Bill Elliott rarely got rattled during his three-plus decades racing at NASCAR’s highest level. He worked hard, didn’t worry about what was going on around him, and did his talking on the track.

He was “Awesome Bill From Dawsonville” and fans idolized the way Elliott conducted himself both inside the car and out.

Now, 11 years after his final full-time season, there’s another Elliott turning heads for the very same reasons.

Chase Elliott, Bill’s son, scored his first career Nationwide Series victory on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, winning in just his sixth start at NASCAR’s junior varsity level. He’s the second-youngest winner in series history, clocking in at roughly four months older than record-holder Joey Logano, who was 18 years and 21 months when he won in 2008.

They called Logano “Sliced Bread” at the time, as in, “he’s the next best thing since …”

Chase Elliott doesn’t need a nickname. He’s simply the future of NASCAR, and it’s a role car co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Elliott can handle.

“He’s just really humble, but very understanding of what’s happening to him,” Earnhardt said. “He grew up with his father as a racer and saw how popular Bill was and I’m sure has been in and around situations where he’s not going to be overwhelmed with the attention. He’s really focused on his racing and trying to do well.”

Stewart on pole

Tony Stewart knocked Brad Keselowski from the pole as qualifying ended Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stewart waited right until the end of the final round to attempt his lap and circled the speedway at 195.454 mph to grab the top starting spot for today’s race.

Keselowski made his attempt earlier in the session and turned his lap at 195.419.

Mercedes dominates

Mercedes locked out the front row for Formula One’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Bahrain, as Nico Rosberg claimed the pole position, qualifying ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg’s time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner.