Carl Edwards won Sunday’s time trials for the Daytona 500 while his teammate, Greg Biffle, secured the outside pole to give Roush Fenway Racing and Ford the front starting row for the February 26 race at Daytona International Speedway.
Edwards turned a lap at 194.738 m.p.h. around the high-banked 2.5-mile superspeedway for his first Daytona 500 pole in his eighth attempt. He also notched his 11th career pole in the Sprint Cup Series.
“This is amazing,” Edwards said. “These Ford Fusions are the two fastest cars here at Daytona…These are the best race cars that we’ve ever had at Daytona. It’s cool. Coming down here, I didn’t really consider the pole as something that was a possibility, so it’s huge.” MiamiHerald.com
Dale Earnhardt Jr., last year’s pole-sitter, was third fastest, followed by Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears.
“If you’ve got great people that we’ve got behind the organization, if they’re as diligent and ambitious as they are, on a good day you can have the success we had today,” Roush Fenway owner Jack Roush said. “It’s great for Ford Motor Company. Ford has been behind my racing and been a great partner for more than 40 years now. Many days they don’t get what they deserve, but we’ve rejoiced in success.” USA Today
Danica Patrick, who has a guaranteed starting spot by virtue of an owner points deal between Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing, qualified 30th for her Sprint Cup debut. When she takes the green flag next Sunday, Patrick will become the third woman to start the Daytona 500, joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson.
Patrick’s car was spewing water long before she completed her second lap at an average speed of 191.738 mph. Race strategist Greg Zipadelli expressed some concerns about the early overheating, but, by and large, Patrick was satisfied with her first Cup qualifying effort. NASCAR.com
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 99 Carl Edwards Ford 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 4 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 5 13 Casey Mears Ford 6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 9 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 10 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 11 55 Mark Martin Toyota 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 13 43 Aric Almirola Ford 14 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 15 34 David Ragan Ford 16 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 17 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 18 22 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 19 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 20 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 21 20 Joey Logano Toyota 22 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 24 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 25 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 26 26 Tony Raines Ford 27 30 David Stremme Toyota 28 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 31 109 Kenny Wallace Toyota 32 32 Terry Labonte Ford 33 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 34 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 35 33 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 36 140 Michael Waltrip Toyota 37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 38 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 39 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 40 98 Michael McDowell Ford 41 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 42 38 David Gilliland Ford 43 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 44 97 Bill Elliott Toyota 45 37 Mike Wallace Ford 46 93 David Reutimann Toyota 47 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Toyota 48 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 49 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota
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