Chase Elliott captures the pole at Coke Zero Sugar 400

After winning the pole position for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Chase Elliott holds up the award flag at Daytona International Speedway. (Terry Renna/Associated Press)A bad wheel was not going to cost Chase Elliott the pole position at Daytona International Speedway.

Despite nursing a right-ankle sprain, Elliott and his Chevrolet Camaro were uncatchable Friday evening during qualifying for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. His time of 46.381 was nearly .25 seconds faster than teammate Alex Bowman, a significant margin in a sport where hundredths of a second can separate qualifiers.

Bowman, who posted a time of 46.621, and the next four qualifiers were within a smaller margin than he and…