RICHMOND, Va. -- Chase Elliott knows that he has to take each of his five Sprint Cup Series races in 2015 step-by-step.
And the first step is to qualify.
For the second time this season, Elliott checked that task off the list.
"I just can’t say enough about all these guys, (crew chief) Kenny Francis, the (Nos.) 5/24 shop and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports," the rookie said. "For NAPA in coming on board and being here for a really strong qualifying effort in my second race; I am really excited to be in the show and hopefully we can make the right adjustments overnight."
Not only did Elliott qualify for Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway, but he advanced to the second round of qualifying for the first time in his Sprint Cup career. He narrowly missed advancing to the third and final round, as well.
“I’m just happy that we made it into the show, for now," he said. "You make it that far and you get greedy and you want to make it into that top 12."
Ultimately, Elliott qualified 16th.
But the performance of his No. 25 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS in Friday's two practice sessions gave him confidence that he can improve on that spot throughout the race.
"I felt like our car in race trim was OK today and actually felt like we were better there than in qualifying," he said. "So hopefully we can improve from where we start and try and move forward.”
In between, Elliott competed in the XFINITY Series race to cap off an extremely busy Friday, taking home a top-five finish.