NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Ryan Blaney will start from the pole today (Sunday) in the NASCAR Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway after winning qualifying Saturday. Blaney, who won a NASCAR Truck Series race in Iowa in 2012, took the pole for the first time in the Nationwide Series. Sam Hornish Jr. will join Blaney on the front row, followed by Michael McDowell, Regan Smith and Dylan Kwasniewski. Series points leader Chase Elliott will start sixth in the Nationwide’s first stand-alone race of the season.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Chase Elliott’s early success hasn’t forced Hendrick Motorsports to speed up its long-term plan for the driver. Elliott has two Nationwide Series wins this year for JR Motorsports and heads into today’s (Sunday’s) race at Iowa Speedway leading the points standings. He also graduated high school in Georgia on Saturday.

The 18-year-old is in the Hendrick driver development program, and JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Junior says that’s where he’ll stay for now