FORT WORTH, Texas _ The eight drivers still competing for NASCAR's Chase took a backseat to Austin Dillon during Friday's qualifying for Texas AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Dillon, who was eliminated from the Chase after the second round, took the pole for Sunday's race, edging Joey Logano by .006 seconds.
Logano is still in the Chase, as is Kevin Harvick, who starts third. Non-Chase drivers Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Paul Menard complete the top six.
It's been two weeks since Dillon finished barely behind Aric Almirola at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, ending Dillon's stay in the Chase. But Friday's pole helped make up for Dillon's disappointment.
"We missed the Chase by just 2 feet," Dillon said. "We want to prove that we can win a race by the end of this year. This is big for us."
Logano, who is fifth in the standings, was clearly disappointed he missed the pole by such a narrow margin.
"I don't know how many feet that translates into _ or maybe inches," he said.
