Larson Leads Hendrick Sweep Of Daytona 500 Front Row

Kyle Larson (right) and Alex Bowman (left) pose in Victory Lane after qualifying on the front row for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Between the new cars, new drivers and new teams, there are a lot of unknowns going into Sunday’s 64th annual Daytona 500.

But one thing is known for sure: Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag for the “Great American Race.”

The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion turned a lap in 49.680 seconds at 181.159 MPH in the next to last qualifying run in the final round of Wednesday night’s pole qualifying at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.

The Elk Grove, California native becomes the fifth driver to win the Daytona 500 pole the year after winning the title, joining Cale Yarborough (1978), Jeff Gordon (1999), Dale Jarrett (2000), and Jimmie Johnson (2008) on that exclusive list.

“Yeah, it’s really neat,” said Larson. “It makes me just, I mean anytime you are really proud of your team to get a pole here cause this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers, qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles, whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands on. It’s really neat, just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully this is the beginning of a really good weekend.”

Larson will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, who will make his fifth consecutive front row start in the Daytona 500 after a lap in 49.711 seconds at 181.046 MPH.

“It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys,” said Bowman. “Congrats to the 5 (Larson) on getting the pole. It’s cool to have the record, but I feel like Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and my race team should be the ones that get the credit for that record. The driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it.”

Only Larson and Bowman know for sure where they will be starting on Sunday, as the rest of the starting lineup will be set in a pair of qualifying races on Thursday night at Daytona.

After running second fast in the first round to teammate William Byron, Larson came back in second round qualifying to snag his first career Daytona 500 pole.

The pole changed hands five times in the final round, with Daniel Suarez starting first in the final run for the pole. He was knocked off by Denny Hamlin’s Toyota, who handed it off two cars later to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex, Jr.

Two cars later, Aric Almirola made a stand for the Ford brigade, knocking Truex off the pole. Another two cars later, Bowman topped the charts, but would only stay there for a moment before Larson took the spot away. Byron was the final qualifier. Despite being fastest in first round qualifying, he couldn’t knock either of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates off the front row.

Byron was third fastest, with Almirola fourth, and Elliott fifth.

Truex, Jr., Ross Chastain, Hamlin, Suarez and Harrison Burton rounded out the top 10.

Six drivers with non-chartered teams came into the night needing a strong qualifying run to lock them into Sunday’s Daytona 500. Noah Gragson (50.689, 177.553 MPH) and former Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve (51.010, 176.436 MPH) can breathe a little easier, as they are guaranteed to start. Meanwhile Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley, Timmy Hill, and Kaz Grala will need to race their way into Sunday’s event on Thursday night, with the top two finishers of those four moving to the Daytona 500.

NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona 500 – February 16, 2022

Wednesday’s Qualifying Results**

1. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 49.680 181.159 1 1 0.000 0.000
2. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 49.711 181.046 1 1 0.031 0.031
3. 24 William Byron, Jr. Axalta Chevrolet 49.765 180.850 1 1 0.085 0.054
4. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 49.854 180.527 1 1 0.174 0.089
5. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 49.913 180.314 1 1 0.233 0.059
6. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 49.989 180.040 1 1 0.309 0.076
If the affected avails one levitra from canada consumption of this fruit. Prevention is always better than cure. pharmacy viagra Even though everyone should know that there are such problems midwayfire.com levitra generika and often it’s ignored. It is known more as a medical therapy rather than a pizza, or a veggie omelet instead of canada generic viagra a pile of sausages and bacon. 7. 1 Ross Chastain Advent Health Chevrolet 50.043 179.845 1 1 0.363 0.054
8. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 50.077 179.723 1 1 0.397 0.034
9. 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 50.106 179.619 1 1 0.426 0.029
10. 21 Harrison Burton # Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford 50.137 179.508 1 1 0.457 0.031
11. 16 Daniel Hemric(i) Heritage Pool Supply Group Chevrolet 50.159 179.429 1 1 0.394 0.002
12. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 50.160 179.426 1 1 0.395 0.001
13. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford 50.162 179.419 1 1 0.397 0.002
14. 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Toyota 50.187 179.329 1 1 0.422 0.025
15. 8 Tyler Reddick 3CHI Chevrolet 50.191 179.315 1 1 0.426 0.004
16. 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 50.196 179.297 1 1 0.431 0.005
17. 6 Brad Keselowski Kohler Generators Ford 50.196 179.297 1 1 0.431 0.000
18. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 50.202 179.276 1 1 0.437 0.006
19. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 50.203 179.272 1 1 0.438 0.001
20. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 50.204 179.269 1 1 0.439 0.001
21. 2 Austin Cindric # Discount Tire Ford 50.205 179.265 1 1 0.440 0.001
22. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 50.209 179.251 1 1 0.444 0.004
23. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 50.218 179.219 1 1 0.453 0.009
24. 42 Ty Dillon Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet 50.225 179.194 1 1 0.460 0.007
25. 45 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Toyota 50.285 178.980 1 1 0.520 0.060
26. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light #BUSCHRACETEAM Ford 50.312 178.884 1 1 0.547 0.027
27. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 50.315 178.873 1 1 0.550 0.003
28. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 50.378 178.649 1 1 0.613 0.063
29. 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 50.539 178.080 1 1 0.774 0.161
30. 7 Corey LaJoie Built.com Chevrolet 50.550 178.042 1 1 0.785 0.011
31. 38 Todd Gilliland # First Phase Credit Card Ford 50.559 178.010 1 1 0.794 0.009
32. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet 50.639 177.729 1 1 0.874 0.080
33. 62 * Noah Gragson(i) Beard Oil/South Point Chevrolet 50.689 177.553 1 1 0.924 0.050
34. 77 Landon Cassill(i) FOX Nation Chevrolet 50.884 176.873 1 1 1.119 0.195
35. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 50.928 176.720 1 1 1.163 0.044
36. 27 * Jacques Villeneuve Hezeberg Engineering Systems Ford 51.010 176.436 1 1 1.245 0.082
37. 50 * Kaz Grala(i) Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet 51.094 176.146 1 1 1.329 0.084
38. 44 * Greg Biffle(i) Grambling State University Chevrolet 51.100 176.125 1 1 1.335 0.006
39. 78 B.J. McLeod NASCAR Ignition Ford 51.153 175.943 1 1 1.388 0.053
40. 15 David Ragan Select Blinds Ford 51.216 175.726 1 1 1.451 0.063
41. 55 * J.J. Yeley(i) Hex.com Ford 52.005 173.060 1 1 2.240 0.789
42. 66 * Timmy Hill(i) Bumper.com Ford 52.263 172.206 1 1 2.498 0.258