QUALIFYING: Ty Gibbs wins General Tire Pole Award at Elko

ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. — When the Menards 250 at Elko Speedway takes the green flag Saturday night (9 p.m. CT / 10 p.m. ET on MAVTV and TrackPass), it will mark the seventh time in nine ARCA Menards Series races this season that Ty Gibbs has started on the pole.

The 18-year-old driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota logged the fastest lap in Saturday’s two-lap single car qualifying session at 14.469 seconds. Gibbs, who leads the series with five wins in 2021, also set the best lap in an hour-long practice session prior to qualifying at the 3/8-mile paved oval.

Gibbs enters the Elko race, the ninth of 20 on the ARCA Menards Series schedule, three points behind Corey Heim for the lead in the championship standings. The Menards 250 is also the third round of the 2021 Sioux Chief Showdown, a series within the series Gibbs leads through two events.

Gracie Trotter, whose historic first win in the ARCA Menards Series West last season came at a track similar to Elko (The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), qualified second for her fifth race driving for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series.

Taylor Gray qualified third for his first ARCA Menards race in 13 weeks. The 16-year-old David Gilliland Racing driver is back in action at Elko after being sidelined by an April street car accident.

Heim and Daniel Dye qualified fourth and fifth, respectively. The latter is making his first ARCA Menards Series start for GMS Racing after running six East Series races (plus one for GMS) over the last two years for Ben Kennedy Racing.

Thad Moffitt, Jesse Love, Ron Vandermeir Jr., Adam Lemke and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top 10 in qualifying at Elko.

Saturday night’s Menards 250 is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. CT / 10 p.m. ET. The race will broadcast live on MAVTV Motorsports Network with a live stream available on NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass.

Starting lineup: Menards 250 at Elko Speedway