#99-Carl Edwards won the pole for the Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway with a lap of 194.738mph for his first Daytona 500 pole and 11th career pole and it is Roush Fenway Racing’s 80th pole. Edwards is the 37th driver to win the Daytona 500 pole. #16-Biffle gets the outside pole and will start 2nd. Only Edwards and Biffle have secured their exact starting spot. #88-Earnhardt Jr was 3rd fastest followed by #9-Ambrose, #13-Mears, #24-Gordon, #56-Truex Jr., #6-Stenhouse Jr., #21-Bayne and #14-Stewart. Edwards will start from the pole in the first Gatorade Duel and Biffle will start 1st in the 2nd Gatorade Duel. #15-Bowyer has not passed the height sticks and his qualifying time disallowed
#21-Bayne (9th), #26-Raines (26th) #30-Stremme (27th) all earned spots in the race as the three fastest drivers among those required to qualify on speed. #32-Terry Labonte will also start the race since he has a past champions provisional to use unless he races his way into one of the two spots available in the Duel he races or gets in by speed since he is 5th fastest of the go-or-go homers.
If Bayne, Raines, or Stremme race into the Daytona 500 via the Gatorade Duels. #09-KWallace, #36-Blaney and/or #40-Waltrip could make the field via speed. #97-Elliott could use the past champions provisional if Terry Labonte races into the field or uses speed [5th best of go-or-go homers] to make the race.
#15-Clint Bowyer had 22nd-fastest speed, but his car failed to pass post-qualifying inspection as the car did not meet front-end height requirements. So Bowyer will have to start at the rear of his Gatorade Duel, race 2. It doesn ‘t effect his starting spot in the Daytona 500.
With the exception of the front row, the starting lineup will be set by the Gatorade Duel races, scheduled for Thursday, February 23rd at 2:00pm/et on SPEED.
See Qualifying Results, speeds, pole progression, pdf link and more on my Daytona 500 Qualifying Results page.
For the Gatorade Duel 150 1 & 2 starting lineups, see my Gatorade Duel’s Starting Lineups page.(2-19-2012)
