Elliott, Hendrick teammates to start up front at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Chase Elliott will lead his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates to the green flag for Sunday’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

With rain in the forecast, NASCAR altered the pre-race schedule and moved the start up about 15 minutes.

Elliott starts on the pole and is joined on the front two rows by Hendrick title challengers Alex Bowman and William Byron, along with Jimmie Johnson.

Stakes will be high in the middle race of the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs ahead of next week’s elimination race at Kansas. Only Kyle Larson has secured a spot in the round of eight.

Elliott won at Talladega in April to end a streak of seven consecutive wins by Ford drivers at the Alabama superspeedway.

Last year’s winner, Aric Almirola, leads Ford drivers in the next six positions. Erik Jones is the highest starter for Toyota at 11th.